Just Another Wednesday Night

Some people were subtle about it. Wednesday must have had special significance for you, they said. It must be at the nexus of some sort of cosmic crossroad, right? It must mean something. No, I said. The response? Oh.

I got engaged on a Wednesday because I had the ring and I wanted to give it to her. We went out to a fancy restaurant and went for a nice walk and during all of that time, Girlfriend was looking at me with a longing in her eyes, as if trying to send me a message. You are going to give me a ring.

And I shot back, with every bit of body language, eyebrow furrow and pursed lip press I knew, not tonight. 

My misdirection was so convincing that Girlfriend texted her mom to tell her that no, she was wrong, and that her mom should just go to bed, because nothing was going to happen and this is just another opportunity where he doesn't pop the question and, just, I mean, sigh. I could see, steadily, the air leaking out of her-- the buoyancy from anticipation gone. Finally, she gave up. Let's just go home, she said.

She plopped down on the couch and took off her shoes and started to spread out. No, I said. You're going to want to sit up for this. I turned on the TV and hit play on DVD player. She was expecting an episode of Mad Men.

Instead, the music started and there was a picture of us together on the screen and then she knew. Her hands went to her face and the tears started to flow and Jack Johnson started singing and the pictures kept coming. There were images of her as a child, as a teenager, as an undergrad, and as a woman. There were images of us together, dancing, smiling and hugging.

We met at Amelie's Bakery, where a friend thought we might get along by playing a board game and I spent all night looking at Girlfriend and thinking of ways to gently prove to her that I was not the kind of guy who loves board games, even though I am. We had our first date at Sir Ed's, where we both filled out a bracket for March Madness and I tried to prove to her that she was all of the things that will make you say "now see, that's the kind of woman I've been looking for." I took the ring box to both places and put that in the video.

The video lasted all of two minutes. I tried to show her everything. I tried to show her the journey. I started out knowing there was something about her and spent a year and three months trying to figure out what it was. But somehow, I knew. I always knew.

And by this time, Girlfriend was bawling and not really seeing any of it, and doesn't remember me getting down on one knee and asking her to marry me. She doesn't remember the part where I fixed my eyes on hers and tried to transmit as much of my love as I could. All she remembers is the part where she said yes.

Wednesday didn't mean anything before. It does now.