My boyfriend and I planned a fun overnight trip to Sedona. On Saturday morning as we were preparing to leave when he mentioned that he needed to go to the mall first. I thought it was a bit strange. A guys wants to go to the mall? Then again, with him you just never know. Maybe he wanted to buy me a new dress? or some shoes?  I was game, wouldn’t you be? As I was driving to the mall I asked what store he planned to take me to. He responded, “Godiva Chocolate”. It was about 105 degrees outside so of course I began to worry that any chocolate we bought may not last the 10 minute drive to the house, never mind the 90 minute drive to Sedona. Then again we could just eat all the chocolate before we left the mall. I am sure that wouldn’t be so difficult for either of us. Would it be hard for you?

We entered the Godiva store and he bought a box of chocolate covered strawberries and a box of 8 chocolates. I felt fat accumulating on my thighs just looking at the box. For a moment I wondered who else was going on this trip to Sedona because surely all this chocolate could not be for us. Why do they have to make the chocolate look so good? Sometimes I feel bad eating such beautiful food, but not so bad that I wouldn’t eat it. I mean it is chocolate.

As we leave the Godiva store $100 lighter and carrying a bag full of chocolate I wonder where this shopping spree is going next. Macy’s? Nordstrom? We begin wandering and he doesn’t give me a clue where we are going. Suddenly as we stand in front of a jewelry store he turns me around to look at him and asks,”Will you marry me?”. My eyes well up as I blurt out ,”Yes”.  Then he ushers me into the jewelry store, “We can get our rings right now!”, he says. I am brushing tears from my eyes as I look at all the shiny rings.

I had a clue that he was planning something special for the weekend (he was action weird) but I didn’t know what. I was expecting a souvenir T-shirt from Sedona or a new dress, not a wedding ring and a fiancée!  We picked out our rings and walked out of the store with a small bag of rings and many dollars lighter. We decided to begin wearing our wedding rings right away. We bought them, we might as well wear them? Were we making a wrong statement by looking married when we didn’t have the paper to back it up? After my daughter asked saw the ring on his finger and asked, “Did you marry mommy?”, we knew that the rings definitely were noticed AND sending a message. We were not technically married according to the law, but we definitely were feeling married. In reality we felt married for a long time. It seemed like dotting your ‘i’ or crossing your ‘t’ in an English essay. Details do matter, but in some cases don’t make the story any different.