Wedding: The Engagement: Pressure Days

Thursday, March 2, 2000 – David Picks Up the Ring

My girlfriend Cathryn Cornwell and I had been dating since January of 1998, and at the start of 2000, it was becoming clear to us that we would someday be getting married. In fact, we had already been making plans on where and when we wanted to wed.  All we needed was for “someone” to get his act together and make it official.

Monterey, California, May, 1999

Since our engagement itself was essentially a foregone conclusion, the only chance I had for surprise was in the way I popped the question.  I began to plan our Engagement Day just before Valentine’s Day, and on March 2, the ring I had ordered was ready to be picked up.

In the meantime, I had to fend off the almost daily pressure that Cathryn gently applied to remind me I was holding things up.  I say “almost” daily because we had made a joking agreement that Thursdays would be a “no-pressure” day.  And Cathryn kept her end of the bargain on this day . . . only she didn’t know that it was the last No-Pressure Thursday.

Friday, March 3, 2000 – The Last “Pressure Day” But on Friday the pressure was back in full (but gentle) force.  Even though she had earlier claimed she would know when I had the ring – that she could intuitively sense when I was ready to go – she continued to point out that since I hadn’t even bought a ring yet, who knew when we would finally get engaged? As I had done over and over before, I appeared unfazed by the lobbying, and tucked Cathryn into her bed at 10:00 or so.  Since Cathryn had to work at the hospital at 7:00 the next morning, she needed to be up at 5:30. I volunteered to set her alarm clock, and she trusted me to do it right (even though I did mess that up once and made her late for work).  I rushed home to bed, knowing we had a big day in store.

Cathryn's engagement ring