We actually have two! On two separate and very different occasions, we proposed to each other. One very private, on October 30, 2007 and the other very public, on December 31st, 2007!
From Lisa: Rowly and I met on April 30, 2006 at Playground 2000 in Barre where Katherine and Grace found each other and played for hours. That left us time to talk for hours and the rest is history. The day we met was a gorgeous spring day and when I was first talking to Rowly he had sunglasses on. We went to sit down in the shade after a while and he took his sunglasses off. The moment he did that I saw his gorgeous brown eyes and pretty much fell hard for him right then and there. That moment is forever crystalized in my mind.
So on October 30, 2007, which was exactly a year and a half since we’d met, I told him I wanted to go to the playground again. He was in his running clothes as he planned to run afterwards. We didn’t have a lot of time as I had to go pick up Grace from school. The weather was fall cool, but not cold. We walked quietly hand in hand and I lead him to that spot where we had sat the day we met.
I reiterated for him how special the place was for me and then simply said, “I need to ask you a question.” Rowly said “ok”. I simply said “Will you marry me?” Now you have to understand one thing, Rowly and I had said that to each other for a while, in various places and times…it was something we did as part of who we were. So he automatically said yes. Then he looked at me for a moment and I watched the realization come over his face that this time I was really officially asking. And he said, “Are you proposing to me?” and I said yes I was. His face melted and he squeezed my hand and said “I’d love to.”
After that I told him that I didn’t think he’d wear a diamond engagement ring, and I pulled a watch out of my pocket for him as a gift. A nice watch, not the kind you wear running! He’ll be wearing it at the wedding, of course!
From Rowly: Lisa is entirely correct to write that my first thought was to think that her question was not out of the ordinary. We drove to the playground with a lot on our mind. We had sold the house in Cabot, moved temporarily into my old home in Barre, and had a contract accepted to buy a home in Northfield (with the closing scheduled for a little over a week). We both had a lot on our minds, then, and so Lisa completely caught me off-guard! I can remember her looking a little surprised at the cavalier way in which I replied at first, and then experiencing a wave of mixed emotions of joy, disbelief, gratitude, and love. I don’t think my feet hit the ground on that run home!
From Rowly: It hit me while running a few days before the First Night 5k that the post-event awards ceremony would be a great venue for my own proposal for a few reasons. First, our daughters would be there, helping me to hand out prizes. Second, I’ve directed the race for the past five years and know many of the people who run it. So a proposal would be done in front of some of my best friends. Finally, Lisa told me that New Year’s Eve has not been one of her favorite holidays in the past, and so I wanted to see if I could change that. I talked with Grace and Katherine that evening, on the condition that both of them keep it a secret from her.
On New Year’s Eve, the race started at 3:00 and the awards ceremony about an hour later. About one hundred of us are in the basement auditorium of the Pavilion State Office Building. While other dedicated volunteers are crunching the numbers for the overall and age-group awards, I start handing out prizes in the post-race raffle (brought to you by Dollar Tree!). Katherine and Grace are drawing out entry forms and running into the audience with the prizes. I announce that there was one more prize to go, and that Lisa had won it. Katherine and Grace joined me on the stage, and when Lisa came forward, I bent down on one knee and proposed. I heard a few gasps from the audience, followed by a loud and thunderous applause that continued for about a minute! I don’t remember actually hearing her reply, though I guessed that from the kiss and long hug she gave me, her answer was affirmative!
From Lisa: First, you have to get a mental picture in your head of how Rowly dresses for the First Night 5K. He’s got a bright red Hawaiian shirt on with big flowers and a Santa hat. It’s easy to point him out for runners who have questions. I was standing on the side of the auditorium watching him and Katherine and Grace give out raffle prizes. Then he called my name and I go up to the stage expeciting a thank you for being helping him with computer entry at the arce. Oh no! Not even close! The next thing I know he is down on one knee with a box open in front of me that has a lovely ring in it and he says, “Will you marry me?” I was taken by surprise. Completely.
I said yes, even though he didn’t hear me and then he hugged me. The next thing we know the audience is clapping and we are getting a standing ovation. Though I am reserved by nature, I wasn’t embarrassed at all because it was such a great gesture and because everyone in the audience was obviously happy for us. Besides, how many women get proposed to by a man in a Santa Hat and Hawaiian shirt?