I (25M) will be in a relationship with my GF (24F) for ten years this month. She has been the greatest treasure in my life and I cannot imagine my life without her. She was my first true love and, while I didn’t know it at the time, it was at first sight for me when I was only 12 years old.
I’ve also known I wanted to marry her for years, but our situation was never right for it. We were both living with our parents, saving up for if and when we’d get a place of our own. We’ve now been living together happily for well over a year, and I know I want to ask her to marry me at our upcoming weekend getaway to commemorate our ten years anniversary. Truth be told, I’ve known this for almost 8 months, before any getaway was even planned.
When I started working on my proposal in August, I wanted to make sure it was special, without becoming something she could predict reliably. I am pretty experienced at setting ‘coded’ messages and she greatly enjoys receiving tokens of affection, however small. So eventually, I settled on a 6 month proposal plan that I dubbed ‘Operation Wingspan’.
Every single day, I’d give her a sweet handwritten note to wake up to, all marked with a date in varying date notations (17-12, 20/2, |3-10|, etc.), all with a different text. Each note would have a letter indicated by said date notation. I would clue this solving method on the last dated note she’d receive and when combined/solved correctly, these notes would spell out the text (translated):
“My dear [GF], Today, on the 10th of March 2023 on our trip through [getaway location], I want to ask you to marry me after ten years. I love you and want you by my side for the rest of my life. [GF], will you marry me?”
The day after the final (dated) note, I’d properly ask the question at this scenic view along a nature trail that we intend to walk.
I’ve less than 10 notes left to give. I’m both ecstatic and extremely nervous to ask the question proper and to reveal what I have been doing for the past six months. I hope I surprise her with the act, I hope she likes the ring I bought her, I hope she enjoys the puzzle I’ve left her. But most importantly, I really really hope she will say yes.
Update
I have been proposing to my GF for 6 months
Proposed for the 180th time today, this time verbally. She said yes, was in a state of pure awe for over 20 minutes and loved all the effort to bits.
A little over a week ago, I posted here about how I have been proposing to my girlfriend for the past 6 months. Today, I’ve popped the question for real.
We had a rocky start of the day, but we eventually rented a car to go on a special date. I was nervous the whole day and could barely sleep the night prior.
We were at the park and at one point, when she was with her back towards me to focus on the picture and the nearby area was devoid of other people, I got down on one knee and was ready to pop the question, trying (and failing) to use the line that I had conjured over nearly 180 notes.
Upon turning back to me, she was in complete awe when she saw me, and could barely utter a single word after I asked the question, and just nodded instead (and followed it up with a soft yes). She mentioned to me after the shock died down that she didn’t hear anything I said, only registering her name and the word ‘marry’.
Her face was frozen with this smile of utter disbelief once she put on the ring (which she absolutely LOVES). It took well over 20 minutes until she was able to speak cohesively again. We took some more pictures and videos before heading back to the car, where I could finally tell how she could have known for almost 6 months.
As I was telling her about the work I’d done, without giving away the solving method, you could see the wheels turn in her head. However, with the emotion and disbelief of the proposal still dominating her thoughts, her processing speed was very slow. Still, once she knew it was a puzzle she desperately wanted to solve it.
After some more giddy talking and eventually driving to our next hotel, I provided her with the final clue again and some of the notes. I’d informed the hotel of my intents upon reservation so they’d been so nice as to set a congratulatory gift in the form of chocolate covered strawberries and more delicious fruit. Once she started solving, it took her a bit to understand but eventually she figured out how to solve the puzzle and it made her even happier.
Right now, she’s fast asleep cuddling up to me, exhausted from the tumultuous day, while I am writing this update for all of you and for myself to process it all as well. I feel like the luckiest man in the world.