White Overalls

In honor of this day, whose specialness will become apparent upon its reading, I bring you something written six years ago on this day:

White Overalls?

     Today began unusually enough; Mike had not been feeling well - chest congestion and a nasty cough. But instead of saying, let's sit around and watch movies all day, Mike suggested that we take a drive to the Georgia Mountains! By the time we were heading north on 985, the plan was to go as far as Suches to the National Forest near the trout hatchery and then hike about one-half mile to the suspension bridge.

     We have been to Suches for the past four years celebrating the Fourth of July at a cabin owned by friends Steve and Lorraine. It is a beautiful spot on the Taccoa River, and it is where we have done some kayaking. The area of the suspension bridge is an infamous milestone on our kayaking expeditions. The river there has a slight drop, and there are rapid rapids which make it the riskiest spot along the route. And even though this is not Deliverance-kayaking, the river at the suspension bridge, before today, conjured up images of flipped kayaks, lost eyeglasses, and testiness in relationships. Sometimes only some of our group would go kayaking on a given day, and the rest would drive through the park and hike to the suspension bridge to watch and goof on our friends in the kayaks below and take pictures of the subsequent ecstasies of success and agonies of defeat.

    But to go to the suspension bridge today would mean a relaxing drive up to the mountains, a short walk, not too taxing on our poor physical conditions, and the view when we got there. Lovely!

    There were at least two other small groups of people at the bridge when we arrived, and we could hear a few more voices in the woods. Who would have thought this to be such a popular place in the middle of a Georgia winter? We took pictures on the riverbank and a few shots of the steel cords that made the suspension bridge suspend.

    Finally I saw the bridge was empty, and I got on and made it sway side to side as if we actually took lots of risks in life!

    Mike joined me, and as we looked down, the dead branches and fallen tree trunks made one side of the river seem still and stagnant while the other side flowed briskly with the rapids. Much symbolism to be gleaned from that, I suppose.

    We went all the way across the bridge until we were over the site of infamy where I had flipped-over two summers ago and lost my glasses, the place close to where Mike lost his eyeglasses last July, the place where we've screamed and oared and sometimes even succeeded without mishap with no more than just a few scrapes and bruises!

   "Don't freak out," Mike said, taking one of those giant risks. " I brought you up here to ask if you would marry me?"

Official Pic in September 2009

    And that historical and precarious perch is now the site of our engagement!

    Mike presented me with a most beautiful diamond ring. It had belonged to his mother.           And now we are committed to swinging and swaying the rest of our lives together!

    Mike said that over the Christmas holidays, he had asked Sarah and Amanda for permission to marry their mom, so they already knew the proposal was coming! And Mike had also mentioned it to his sister, Ann, who asked him what color overalls I would be wearing to the wedding?

    At first Mike wanted to propose on Election Night, you know, the theme for the election was change, and the whole evening was so exciting. How cool that would have been? but alas, he could not find the ring! 

    Then he wanted to take me to the Pigeon Forge Storytelling Festival in January like we did three years ago and stay at the Cuddles Cabin again and maybe soak in the hot tub outside with the snowflakes falling and oh my gosh that would have been so romantic; but the Pigeon Forge festival is in June this year, go figure, and the Cuddles Cabin prices have soared sky high, and he still couldn't find the ring.

    Yesterday the ring was found, and Mike decided North Georgia was the place to go with the proposal!

    The perfect place.

    On our way back home, we stopped in Dahlonega where Mike and I had our first date four years and three months ago; that night it was the Smith House for dinner and the Holly Theater for a show.

    Today we went to the Crescent Moon for a beer. Writing on the bathroom walls is encouraged at the Crescent Moon so Mike wrote: On 2/8/2009 De and Mike got engaged on the swinging bridge MDM.

    Yes we did, and now yes we are!

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