My best friend and her boyfriend have been dating for six years. They started dating when they were 14 years old, and I happened to experience the moment that she was asked out. From that moment, all the way up until this very second, I have never seen a couple more in love. Their relationship is something that even a romantic movie would be jealous of, and both of them have known for a while now that they want to spend the rest of their lives together.
So, at 20 years old they decided that they wanted to start to move forward with getting married. They talked to their families, looked at venues and rings, and started talking about dates.
A lot of people are critics of this. A lot of people think 20 is too young, or that marrying your high school sweetheart isn't a good idea, but these people just obviously do not know the relationship of these two. Young love is still love, and dating for six years before getting engaged is typically unheard of in the first place, so if they are together for that long I think they know each other and love each other enough to know if marriage is right for them. While marrying young isn't for everyone, it is the perfect fit for this couple.
Now that the background of the situation is laid out, I want to tell about my personal experience in witnessing my first ever proposal. They knew they were planning on getting engaged soon, as they had picked a wedding date that was about a year and a half way, and she knew that the proposal would be coming. However, she had no idea when.
He told me on New Year's Eve that he was going to pick up her ring the following day, and let me tell you, it was the hardest thing I have ever done keeping it from my best friend. But I did, because keeping this secret meant giving her the most special night in the world.
So, I knew it was coming and I waited every single day for a text, hoping I would hear from him before it happened. About a week and a half later, I get a cryptic text telling me that he was going to propose tomorrow and to call my best friend's mother for details because he was with my best friend at the moment and couldn't talk.
Yes, I had instant tears, if you were wondering. Well, I called her mom and we talked for 15 minutes excited and nervous about the following day. As I woke up the following morning I could barely function out of excitement. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone, which nearly killed me, and every time my best friend texted me I had to read my response at least 10 times before sending it so that I wasn't sounding suspicious.
As the night approached, I was so nervous for him. I kept thinking that he must be having so many emotions right now and couldn't wait till it was all over and she was finally standing next to him with the ring on her finger. I had been crying all day, thinking about memories with my best friend or all the moments she's shared with him, and I just wanted it to be time already.
Finally, I got to her house and was chatting with her family. Her mother had been cleaning and setting up all day, and I knew she was beyond excited for the two of them. His family arrived, and they were all excited as well. The energy was incredible. Meanwhile, the two of them are at dinner and she had no idea what is going on.
Well, the plan is that she believes her younger brother is getting a new puppy and she needs to "go along" with the excitement of it for her brother. So, as the two of them pull into the driveway, along with her younger brother that they picked up from his friend's house, her mother ran outside to blindfold "all of them."
Technically, she was only blindfolding my best friend, but my best friend thought all three of them were being blindfolded. As she walked into the house, we all stood around silent, holding roses, and doing our best not to cry.
He took the blindfold off of her, and her reaction couldn't have been better. You truly saw every single expression on her face. First confusion, then excitement, then absolute bliss as tears streamed down her face. He held her hands and gave one of the most beautiful and heartwarming speeches I have heard in my whole life. I stood there shaking while I videotaped--knowing my best friend would thank me later for capturing the memory--and trying to keep myself together and my eyes welled with tears.
He got down on one need and asked for her hand in marriage, as she responded "of course" while letting out a laugh, as though we all thought she would decline.
I have watched hundreds of proposal videos online and I cry every single time, I'm seriously obsessed with them. However, experiencing my first proposal in real life cannot even be expressed in enough words. And to have it be for my very best friend, that was incredible.
For those of you who aren't completely supportive of young love, the only thing you would have needed to change your mind is to be in that room during that proposal. The way he spoke to her, the way she sobbed of happiness and the love they so obviously shared for each other was beautiful, inspiring, and touching. While I am sure that I will see other proposals in my lifetime, and I hope to eventually have one of my own, I will remember this day forever because it was the day I witnessed true love become infinite, and it was the day I watched my best friend have one of the best days of her life.
