The backstory to the proposal
david January 5th, 2007
I didn’t write about this earlier because all this happened before I started this blog. But I wanted to blog it anyway because it’s quite a fun story and would be something interesting to recall when Pei Chyi and I are older.
Although Pei Chyi, me and her parents had already accepted that Pei Chyi and I would get married some time in the future, I had decided to make sure to ask for her parents’ permission formally in advanced. And so several months ago (probably back in July), I had the opportunity to speak to Pei Chyi’s parents alone. Nervously, I told them that I really cared for Pei Chyi and that I wanted to make sure it was ok with them that I marry Pei Chyi.
Auntie and Uncle said yes, reminded me to take care of her and told me to not rush into it.
Great! I was really happy. It went smoother than I thought it would go, and the looks on their faces made me feel that they were quite pleased with it.
Later that evening, I was speaking to Pei Chyi on the phone when she said,
“Dear, Mom told me something earlier…”
Auntie had told her everything and basically spoilt my surprise. Oh well.
It was probably my fault because I had forgotten to tell them I wasn’t about to propose yet, so please keep it a secret. But at the same time I have a feeling that Auntie was too happy to contain it inside anyway.
With the cat out of the bag as well it wasn’t going to be much of a surprise if I had proposed soon after that. Plus I couldn’t afford a ring at that time anyway. So I decided to wait till Pei Chyi had sort of forgotten about it before catching her by surprise.
Unfortunately, the silly girl couldn’t let it go. She kept hinting to me about wedding rings and kept saying things like it wasn’t the the value of the wedding ring that was important, and suggested to just get engaged with a more affordable (i.e. “cheap”) ring. She went on and on about it till it got me quite annoyed. In the end I had to put a stop to it by telling her that I didn’t want to hear another peep out of it.
Thankfully, Pei Chyi finally forgot about the impending proposal and sort of resigned herself to wait till when I could afford the ring.
Little did she know that I had been plotting all along and had bought the ring quietly under her nose… In hindsight, I’m glad that I didn’t relent to her insistence of quickly getting engaged. With her constant hinting, it almost felt that I would be proposing because I was being compelled and pressured to do so. Plus I’m happy I waited till I could afford the Estrella ring because the first things her cousin and my aunties asked was, “How many carats?” “Got certificate or not?” and the very blunt “Big or not?”
Also, it was quite tough for me to surprise Pei Chyi with my proposal with all the extra obstacles. Fortunately, it went off as planned and now we can both look back at these events and laugh about them.
Pei Chyi said YES! The ring is around her finger. We’re officially engaged!
