Four years ago, when I’d met an Australian boy on New Years Eve who happened to be moving to Canada two weeks later, I never thought, “Well sure, this is the one!”
In fact, I may have never even noticed Chris at the Ukranian gypsy punk rock concert had it not been for my friend who had forced me to go to the concert in the first place. She was the one who spotted Chris and his friend first, the one who walked up to them, and the one who introduced me to Chris (you know, after she had known him for all of two minutes).
Despite the spontaneity of it all, Chris and I had an immediate bond. He was fun and friendly, kind and thoughtful. We developed a fast friendship, and spent every day together until he left for Banff, Canada.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t upset when Chris left those two weeks later. Even though we had agreed to keep in touch and see how things went, I was actually assuming that I would never see this boy in my life again.
Still, we did keep in touch. As the days turned into weeks, I began to notice that I looked forward to Skyping with Chris every night, and to getting the occasional letters that he would send in the mail. Then I went for a visit. Banff is an amazing and glorious place, not the least of which was due to how much I was missing Chris (and I really hadn’t even realized just how much!). So when he sent me my Valentine’s Day gift in the mail—his return flight confirmation back to the states after he was done with Banff—I couldn’t have been more excited.
What followed were four of the happiest, craziest, fun and most exciting years of my life. Chris and I moved in together. We took a trip to Australia to visit his family. We adopted a kitten and a bunny. We spent holidays together. He came with me to my sister’s wedding.
Despite all of this, and the fact that we were, in other people’s eyes, moving forward, Chris was still very vocal about the fact that he needed time before
he would be ready for marriage. How much time, he would never really come out and say.
So when our four-year anniversary arrived—New Years eve of 2011—I wasn’t in the slightest expecting an engagement.
Even when the same Ukrainian band (Gogol Bordello) was playing at the same venue (Terminal 5) on New Years Eve and Chris had bought us tickets, I still wasn’t expecting anything.
When Chris’s parents came to visit for the holidays and he’d bought tickets for them to come to the concert with us? Even then, I still didn’t expect the engagement.
And so the night came. We went out to dinner, and my sister and her boyfriend came into the city as well. Everyone was drinking and having a fabulous time.
Still, no expectation from me.
At the concert, the night went entirely too quickly. About three minutes before midnight, the band stopped singing and started to get everyone in the crowd into the countdown mode.
That’s around the time that I asked Chris for my cell phone. As I desperately tried to get my ‘Happy New Years!’ texts out before everyone else did, Chris was desperately trying to get my attention.
“Turn around.”
“Cheryl.”
“Pay attention!”
Finally, as the band and everyone around us rang in the New Year, I turned around to give a celebratory kiss to my boyfriend, only to find him down on bended knee, holding out a box with the most amazing ring I had ever seen.
For a full three minutes I was speechless. After hugging and saying nothing for about seven minutes, Chris placed the ring on my finger.
“Yes!” I yelled into the jubilant crowd (jubilant for New Years, of course…no one seemed to notice that Chris and I had just vowed to be with each other for the rest of our lives).
Since Chris’s parents were there, we were able to get some photos of the big moment as well. I can honestly say we’ve both never been happier.
Now, New Years will never, ever be the same again…
