Monday, March 5, 2012

ENGAGED!





When you are carrying your baby inside, they are safe and sound.
They are warm.  They are protected.
It is the only time in the span of their life that they will be held beneath your heart. 
They hear your voice and they learn to recognize it as a voice that soothes and that offers comfort like no other human voice in the world.
And when your eyes first meet, there is recognition like no other.  It is for sure love at first glance.
Because that is what you do.  You glance at first because it is simply too much to take in at one time.
As they grow and become a bit more independent, there is still always the pride and smile that you can’t hide when they still need you despite their ever-growing need for independence.
Somehow, someway, they DO grow up.
It happens so quickly.  Honestly it does.


It seems like yesterday, I was nursing a newborn while watching FATHER OF THE BRIDE.  Crying, I grabbed my hubby’s arm insisting that I didn’t want our baby girl to grow up.  He assured me that we had lots of time with her.  Plenty of years before we needed to worry about that

Six years ago, I was taking my children to school.  Pretty sure we most likely had a hectic morning and were probably trying to make it on time.  We got stuck at the light!!!  This is years before the blinking yellow light was installed…or we would have missed THIS…

A young man was waiting to cross the street.  He had one little boy on one hand and the other little boy on the other hand.
They were obviously walking to school. As they walked right in front of us, I could tell they were all brothers.  It was the sweetest thing EVER! 
I asked Laurissa who THAT was.  She replied, “oh, that is David Curtis.”  I said,” You need to get to know that boy!” { Don’t you think you would have done the same thing?  Or, am I just CRAZY!}

That morning, on our walk up the dreaded hill, I told my bff about the boy who was walking across the street with his two little brothers in tow.  Really, who still does that? 

Fast forward…

This young man arrived back from Korea right before Christmas after having served overseas for a year.  Having opened the discussion before he left for Korea, he again approached my hubby to ask for permission to marry our daughter.  After seeing that David had thoroughly thought everything through, his blessing was given! 

The only thing to figure out was when and where to ask her.
Laurissa is notorious for having the gift for figuring all things out.  She figures out everything.  Birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, all things that should not be figured out.
Between friends, family, David, my hubby and my birthday weekend, we figured it out.
The plan was that my hubby and I would go to the beach to celebrate my birthday, and that the rest of our family would meet us for lunch…after Kim snapped a few family pictures.
As far as Rissa was concerned, David was on 24 hour duty, so she brought one of her best friends along instead.  We were actually commenting on our concern for our daughter's lack of having any idea of what was going on!

We were all jumping and crossing the stoney creek in our dress clothes, getting misted on and freezing as the fog continued to roll in…but there, in the distance, a more mature young man was walking, yet again, almost in front of us…a young man who did not have his brothers holding his hands across the busy street, but a man with open arms and a heart so full of love and compassion for our daughter.

With her back to him and with Caleb’s arms around her, Kim snapped the last picture of her childhood.  Laurissa turned around and in disbelief and sheer confusion hugged David…and within seconds, he was on bended knee asking her to marry him.

Sooo…I guess when I asked her years ago, “who is that?” she could have said, “oh, that is David Curtis…my future husband!”

Momma’s, it is never too early to pray for a God-fearing, loving, compassionate man who will become the husband to your baby girl.
 
AND, as far as FATHER OF THE BRIDE…cry away…because there is no such thing as “plenty of years”…

Honey…Thank you for being the best daddy in the world.  You will always be her first love and what an amazing example you have been for her in what a husband should be.  You set the bar high! I am looking forward to being married to the best Mr. Banks that ever was…can we pretty pretty pretty please have swans?  PLEASE! :)

Caleb…thank you for making my day so special and for helping plan the weekend.  We have not forgotten that it is YOU who will be graduating…and we are so very proud of all of your accomplishments despite physical limitations.  You are one inspiring young man! We are excited to see where God leads you after graduation!  LOVE YOU, buddy!

Bunny…thank you for being the most gracious friend in always putting others first…it really needs to be ALL about you now.  I am tipping the scale!  I am blessed to have a friend who shares with JOY and tears, and who loves me AND my family!  You are the bestest little bunny that ever was!
{me, the future Mrs. David Curtis and my bff, Kim}


“BE FILLED WITH JOY!”

Please visit this post by my BFF...the pictures she caught are filled with emotion and beauty!  Is there anything more lovely than two people in love...be it young or old?  

14 comments:

  1. Ohhhh!!! Congratulations, that is so exciting!!!!

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  2. Wow...this post has me in tears! I can see my 7 year old sweet girl sitting by the window reading a book right now, and all I can think is "one day she won't be so little." the thought of this both scares me and makes me realize that, like you said, it's never too early to start praying for her to find a wonderful man {just like her daddy hopefully} that she can spend the rest of her life with. What a wonderfully sweet blessing, thank you for sharing!

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  3. Oh congratulations! How exciting for you and yours! May the soon to be married couple have many years of joy and love!

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  4. beautifully written! Congratulations to all of you.

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  5. This is wonderful news, so happy for your daughter...and for all the rest of your family! Gave me goose bumps reading this sweet story. I know this feeling of letting go, and although it is an exciting time, it's bittersweet too ;-) Congrats to you all!

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  6. What a great story. It puts a lump in my throat just reading it. How exciting! xo Diana

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  7. I would have been impressed by the same scenario Lisa - a young man prepared to walk his brothers to school. It tells you that they have a strong regard for family and I pray my daughters meet young men of the same mould and character.Congratulations to your lovely daughter on her engagement and thank you so much for sharing her engagement story with your readers.

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  8. This is beautiful. Time goes by too fast. I'm so grateful to know and love your family :)

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  9. Oh how wonderful!!! This story is so beautiful. God bless you :-)

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  10. Nana of the bride to beMarch 6, 2012 at 1:01 PM

    What a great post...however; took me quite a while to read it thru the tears! I am sooooo blessed by my family and cannot fully express how I love you all!

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  11. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your sweet comments and for sharing in our joy and excitement! I am sure we are going to learn a lot along the way. I hope you are up for graduation/wedding posts!

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  12. I'm so grateful I didn't miss this post! Just beautiful ~ and from the heart. Time flies when they're growing up and it's so difficult to experience...along with all the joys. That's happened now with my grands. How in the world did they get to be teenagers?

    I know that the graduation and the wedding are going to be awesome ~ congrats to all!
    xo
    Pat

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  13. Hi Lisa... So is there a prize for being the most belated commenter? I loved your post and saved it to refer back to... And here I am... 15 days after the post... Finally leaving a comment. But at least I know my comment will find it's way to your In-box...I feel better leaving it so belatedly.

    Congratulations Pearson family on the wonderful news of Laurissa and David's announcement! How wonderful that he captured the element of surprise in his proposal! How amazing that you have the moment captured forever by your dear friend, Kim. The pictures were beautiful! I think my favoritr was the black and white shot of them hugging sideways.

    Your words to your daughter in your post were so moving and loving... They brought me to tears... And your photo caption saying.."here is the last photo of her childhood..." was a bit too much to think about! I was undone!

    I'm glad you all get to share in the planning of her special day. It sounds like it will be amazing! Best wishes as you work together To make Laurissa's wedding day one of the best days of her life. I'm sure Team Pearson will make her day Lovely, memorable, creative and practically perfect in every way. Sending warm hugs your way. Love. Paula Romer

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    Replies
    1. Paula...what a sweet comment! Laurissa has enjoyed reading the comments! Thank you for being excited for us!
      Paula, I must say I am glad I am not the only one "undone" and crying. It seems with as much excitement as there is, there is just as much sadness as this chapter in our lives comes to an end. So very much to look forward to, but I have absolutely LOVED being her momma and having her as part of our family in our home...but gaining a new son and adding to our family is priceless!
      Hope you find your phone...and btw, LOVE all of your organizing. Never too many bins and baskets. NEVER! :}

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