How We Met
I met Conor when I was 18 years old, at our university’s comedy society. He’d already been there a year so, at my first session, he got up in front of the group and performed some of his stand-up material. As he walked to the front of the room, I remember somebody saying “Here we go! The king of puns!” My new friends were excited to watch this guy perform — the twinkles in their eyes told me that they knew what was coming… and soon, I realized why. Conor’s comedy was a perfectly crafted set of one-liners — puns and wordplay so clever that the room laughed and groaned in equal measure as the dots connected in their heads. I remember thinking “this guy is really funny”.
A few weeks later my best friend from home visited. I had a crush on another guy in the society but after meeting the group she quickly told me that she didn’t think he was right for me, and struck up her own conversation with Conor. He was (as he was most of the time when he wasn’t performing) sitting quietly, listening, and enjoying the banter that came from the louder comedians around us (myself included). My friend swiftly engaged me with a chat with him and later told me that she liked the quiet guy the most.
Conor and I happened to get the same bus to comedy society together, so small talk was made but I mostly continued to admire his wit and craftsmanship from afar. Until about six months later, when something clearly clicked in my brain, and I realized how cute he was. Not one for being shy, I found an excuse to message him on Facebook and struck up our first proper conversation. God knows how, but we soon found ourselves talking about mimes, and I challenged him to craft a pun about mimes by the time we met later that evening for a comedy night with the rest of the group. The promise was that if he fulfilled this challenge I would buy him a drink. (I really wasn’t shy!)
Later that evening we met at the student union bar and he reeled off not one, not two, but three mime puns! I wasn’t sure if it was his love of wordplay or how much he liked me that made him go over the top (but having known him now for five years I know it was probably both in equal measure). As promised, I bought him a drink, we had a great night together, and later that evening he walked me home and kissed me by the gate to my student halls.
That was over five years ago and I’ve been enjoying his kisses and puns ever since!
How They Asked
For our five-year anniversary, we took a trip to New York City — the place I’ve wanted to travel to since I was a little girl. Despite having some issues with our accommodation at the start of our trip, I was in heaven being in the place I had dreamt of visiting for so many years. I totally suspected that Conor may propose during our visit, but for some reason as soon as we arrived I started having doubts. I worried that I’d gotten my hopes up and was going to spoil the trip by waiting for something that wasn’t going to happen. I began to convince myself that I’d read the signs wrong and that I was imagining things. So I attempted to put it to the back of my mind and enjoy the holiday.
A few days in, we visited Central Park — it was only March but the sun was shining and it was a gloriously hot day. Being a stickler for organization, I had comprised a list of places within the huge park that I wanted to see, to ensure that nothing was missed. We walked from place to place, taking pictures, chatting, and enjoying the sunny weather. Eventually, we arrived at a place called Wagner Cove — a sweet little wooden pavilion tucked away next to the lake with a small seating area — somewhere that I had found online and looked too adorable not to visit. We sat here for a while together, kissing in the sun. Conor told me to get up so that he could take a picture of me. He made me turn around so that he could get a picture of me looking out onto the water.
When I turned back around to face him, I instantly knew what was happening. His hands were both behind his back, clearly holding something, and he was grinning. He began saying that he couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment that he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, but instead that it came from the hundreds of small moments we’d shared together. He listed some of our most special memories, our mundane day-to-day activities, and the silly inside jokes that we’ve created since we first met. I sobbed throughout his whole speech and then burst out laughing as he said “I’m about to ask you a question. I once asked this question to mime, and let me tell you, they were speechless” (It all started with a mime pun after all!)
He got down on one knee, said “Laura, will you marry me?” to which I said, “um, you’ve opened the ring box upside down… but YES!” We burst out laughing again as he turned the box upright and slipped the ring onto my finger.
I wouldn’t have had my engagement any other way — it was so perfect. We’ve made each other laugh for five years, why not get in some laughs during the proposal too?! And I know we’ll be laughing together for the rest of our lives.
