Arctic Fox

"...Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother's house..."

Song of Songs 3:4 (NIV)

So about a week ago, Mr.O came and presented himself to my parental unit (AKA my owners). He basically came to introduce himself (though they had met before) and inform then that they are in possession of something that he is interested in and would like to pursue a transfer of ownership at some point in the near future,

This was an experience, to say the least.

He had already presented me to his parents, a little over a month ago..probably going to two months ago. If I thought that was tough, it paled in comparison to his experience. He always told me that him taking me to his parents is extremely different from him coming to see mine. Very true.

Anyways, my owners are pretty cool. Anyone who knows them will tell you, They aren't really intimidating (though my dad does look intimidating), and they are pretty hilarious. But any set of parents can be intimidating when you come and tell them that you want to whisk their daughter away..especially when it's their only daughter. Because at the end of the day, you want to be sure you gave her away to the right man.

Mr.O has always told me that he can't "propose" to me, until he has my parents approval to do so. Makes sense. I know that this is not always possible depending on the kind of parents you have, but I think it is actually a great way to go about things. Why? Because, accountability.

My ex never actually met with my parents to declare intent to marry me. We had been together for a while, he was technically family by that point. I guess we all just sort of knew and assumed that we would get married. So when the time came, he proposed, I said yes then I went to face my owners about it. We talked at length, lots of questions, clarifications etc.. But I remember leaving that meeting thinking and wishing that he had been there. That aside, when he decided he was done, he up and left and didn't feel the need to explain himself to anyone, because he wan't really accountable to anyone.

Based on that experience, I told my owners that the next man would have to come and see them first before he asked me anything. This was way before I met Mr. O. So imagine my pleasant surprise when shortly after we begun dating, Mr. O told me that he wanted to introduce me to his parents, and once that was done, he would like to come and speak to my parents because it is important to him that both sets of parents are in agreement with the general plan before he can officially propose and thus begin planning in details. I was so wowed by this, because I didn't even ask yet it was something that was extremely important to me, and I'd always wondered how I would bring it up. This man just kept meeting and surpassing my mental checklist :-)

So anyways, the day before he was to come, we had a big fight over what we now both agree was something very stupid. I should write about this later. But we were unable to resolve it due to circumstances both within our control, and some out of our control. And so even by the time he got home, we weren't really on speaking terms as such. But I am the queen of putting on a show, and so the show went on.

The entire process went pretty well, tense at first but things got more relaxed. He was asked A LOT of questions. I was pretty much quiet the entire time up till the end when he had to declare his intentions toward me, and I was asked whether we are on the same page or I was hearing of this for the first time ;-D ... And just like that, we are all systems go. Granted the excitement of it all really only mostly settled in the next day because we had to spend a considerable amount of time that evening fixing our light-bulb (based off of one of my favorite quotes - "when a light bulb is not working, you fix the light bulb. You don't sell the house"), but it's exciting all the same.

We do have most of our plans thought out and written down, and now its pretty much trying to actualize them. I would never have imagined in a thousand years that my year would end like this. I am now really actually Mrs. O designate :-), and in a few short (or maybe long) months, I will be Mrs. O .. And this man was worth the wait. He is worth everything I have been through. He is worth the highs and the lows. He is worth the time it took to get myself back together. Worth the times I got impatient and wanted my man now-now. He is not my better half, he is my better whole. It was necessary for each of us to find God, and find ourselves before we could find each other. That would explain why we kept "missing" each other even though we were in each others lives. I finally know what it is to be with someone who compliments you, which he does in almost every way. He doesn't complete me, I am complete on my own. And so is he. That's the beauty of what we have. He is my Arctic Fox (a breed of foxes especially famous because they are monogamous and mate for life once they pick a partner) - Forever, For Always.

Love & Light