Thus far, it had been a bad day. I was tired, stressed, grumpy and feeling downright sorry for myself. The idea of hiking up the slope for a ski seemed like a chore, but I relented nonetheless. Ski Gypsy Man was so enthusiastic about the idea, it was hard to deny him the pleasure. We headed up Shadow Lift at the Remarkables (New Zealand), heading towards the short traverse and hike up to East Face.
Being the miserable human being I was on that beautiful, sunny day in August 2012, I complained. I was out of breath, sweaty and wondering why in the world I had agreed to this mission. Finally arriving at the top, I let my skis drop to the snow and immediately slumped down next to them. Ski Gypsy Man told me that he had a surprise for me, something that would make me feel better, and instructed me to close my eyes. When I obliged, I wryly asked if it was happy pills.
When I opened my eyes, I was immediately struck by how blind I had been; there knelt the most wonderful man holding up a shiny, sparkling promise. A wave of simultaneous guilt and joy washed over me. Guilt– that I had been so positively miserable without just cause. Joy– that something so wonderful was about to begin.
We don’t have pictures of the actual moment and in a way, I’m glad. Ugly crying is not how I want to remember that moment. I would rather recall arms around me and being basked in sunlight, love and gratitude.
Sometime after our mountain proposal, we headed up to the well known Remarkables Lookout for a photo-shoot to commemorate the milestone. A huge thank you to the lovely people at Magic Memories, for making the memory of our engagement, well… magic.
Winter (and our big day!) is coming,