The Family Tree
I asked Faith to join me in South Carolina to meet my family for Thanksgiving. During our trip, I took her to my family home (it's a very old house that has been in our family for years). Just about everyone in my family has lived there or had a family event there -- from birthdays to weddings, you name it. In the yard of the house there are several trees bearing the initials of each betrothed family member. There, in the yard of my ancestors, I handed her a branch and asked her to join me in the tree. She looked at me as if I was crazy and asked "Don't you mean UP in the tree?" I shook my head no, and as I carved our initials into the tree using my great-granddad's pocketknife, answered, "No, I mean IN the tree." I reached into the branches above her head and retrieved a little box holding a half-carat solitaire diamond engagement ring. It's been more than 10 years now and we still go back to that tree every year to celebrate the day I proposed.