WILL YOU MARRY ME?

Our feet dangled in the water right in the middle of this picture when Doug said, "Let me see my high school ring for a minute, Kathy." I slipped it off and handed it to him.

Back in the '60's it was called going steady. Girls wrapped yarn around their guy's ring to make it small enough to wear. He reached for my hand as if to return his ring to me but when I looked down, he had replaced it with a diamond ring.

"Will you marry me?"

The rest is history. I want our children and grandchildren to have a detailed record of our lives and this blog is part of that.

The replica of the Parthenon is a landmark in Nashville, Tennessee where we attended college. Centennial Park is a nod to Nashville being the Athens of the south. We often went there on dates. So it was a perfect place to say, "Yes!"

Doug traded out rings in his pocket that night and I traded out the single life for a family of my own. I swapped my childhood doll babies for our three precious children. Later that engagement evening we realized Doug's high school ring was lost during the exchange. It probably fell out of his pocket by the lake. It may even be there in the bottom of the water today.

About 30 years later we renewed our vows and he upgraded my diamond. Today is our 43rd anniversary. 

"To have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. . ."  

I do.

Happy anniversary, Doug.  They're playing our song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiyDrwoQiN0&feature=fvst