Emma & Phil

and here's how he asked (phil's perspective):

As all great stories in our life go, our proposal involved our dog Bruce, a piece of heavy machinery, an impulse and a piece of American History. 

I've never been more sure about anything in my life than marrying Emma. The only question was how I was going to hide a proposal from someone who not only knew about every single facet of my life, they had spent every minute of the last 6 months with me. So I had to do something that I have never been good at. I had to be patient, secretive and calculated.

Enter me at Harris Teeter. If I remember correctly, I was going to pick up some vegetables for dinner and I was walking through the aisles on a random Tuesday thinking about just how great the last year had turned out to be. I thought about how easy it had been living with Emma and how I knew that she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. So I did what every great future son in law does. I checked out at the self check out and I got in the car and called Emma's mother Sue on speaker phone. "Hello", "Hey Sue, it's Phil, uh I wanted to run something by you to see what you thought". "Well hold on a sec, i'm painting a room, so let me put my brush down" "Sue I'd like to marry Emma, and it's important to me that both you and Bill felt good about that decision so I wanted to ask for your blessing." "WOW! That was not what I thought this conversation was going to be, but yes, I think that sounds great!"

Alright check, mother down, now on to the Bill.

Emma & Phil

and here's how he asked (phil's perspective):

"Hey Bill, it's Phil". "Well, hello there Phil, I was just down at the river feeding the fish" "That's great Bill, hey I wanted to ask you something, I wanted to see what you thought about asking Emma to marry me?" "Well I think that's a phenomenal idea! Have you asked Susan yet?" "Yup, I called her first" "Well if you did that you're going to be just fine, you understand how the pecking order works around here."

So that was done, who do I call now? Obviously Katie Allen (Emma's Maid of Honor).

Katie gave her blessing after sobbing for a few minutes and we were off to the races.

The next week was a blur, but I managed to get a hold of a great jeweler in Virginia who we had stopped at a few months before. My type A guy friends had all told me that the ring selection process took months and that I should get started as soon as possible. I called the jeweler and they still had the ring that Emma tried on a few months before. I asked them how long it would take for them to change the setting and they said 3 days. My timeline just moved from 3 months to 3 days but ya know what, I could not have held it together for that long so it was probably for the best. 

Emma & Phil

and here's how he asked (phil's perspective):

You may have been wondering where the heavy machinery comes in. Well, I told Emma that I needed to go pick up a bandsaw out in Virginia. It was the only thing that I could think of that she would want to do less than getting a tooth pulled. Bruce in all of his infinite wisdom was also being super annoying that day, so I told her I would take him with me to get out of her hair. Bruce and I blazed a trail out into Virginia and secured the ring on a Thursday. Emma and I were leaving town on Friday.

Why were we leaving town? Conveniently, I got a mild case of Covid in December and we had to push out a hotel room that we had booked at a historic Bed and Breakfast in Virginia. I randomly suggested the date to push it out to and some how the timeline aligned that we'd be there after I had secured a ring the day before.

I was so nervous the day that we were leaving that I woke up at 6am and went into the back yard and started chopping wood (sorry neighbors). Emma opened the window and said "what the hell is wrong with you?" "Can't sleep" I said. And so it goes.

When we finally made it to the hotel room, I proposed to Emma in one of the oldest bed and breakfasts in the country nestled deep in the Allegheny Mountains and we were completely alone. It was exactly how we wanted it and it is and always will be the best decision I've ever made in my life.