A Christmas Story in July (7.21.05)

This is another of my stories from the past that I don't want to forget...the story of mine and Lee's engagement. Thought I'd post so that I'll have it. :)

Feel free to read at your leisure - this is a long, long story...but pretty entertaining. And true! As you may or may not know, the Sewards went on a cruise this year - from December 18th to December 23rd, and this is where the story begins...

The cruise was wonderful - so relaxing and so much fun and I think I gained 1700 lbs. It was actually a little chilly some days, but still warm enough to lay out some and relax and read in the sun. Ahhh... Key West was great and the Bahamas were so beautiful. Got back to Jacksonville (with no horrible hurricane-like winds or Tsunamis) Thursday morning. I cried all the way back to Savannah because this was the first Christmas without my family, but by the time I got home I was ok. I'm a huge baby. hahaha...

Packed and did laundry and relaxed a little bit at home here in the 'vannah before my 6:05 PM flight to Memphis. Got to the airport and found that my flight was delayed by 30 minutes...no biggie. But, when we got to Atlanta, my flight there was delayed 2 HOURS! And the Atlanta airport literally looked like Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve. People EVERYWHERE!! So I was a little perturbed and called Lee to let him know that I would not be to Memphis by 9.

Well, when I got him on the phone, I could tell something was wrong...he was breaking up, and all I heard was "Mary Emma...hospital...not good..." Mary Emma is Lee's 2-year-old niece. The phone completely cut off, and I hysterically called back. This time, Mrs. Huff answered and told me that Mary Emma had fallen and hit her head - she quit breathing, had a seizure and was in the hospital. Lee had driven her, his sister, and his nephew, William, in the ice to the hospital - thankfully seeing an ambulance on the way and flagging them down. In the process, he knocked his passenger side mirror off of his car and his driver side window blew a fuse and wouldn't roll up (mind you, it was 11 degrees). So, when I talked to Mrs. Huff, Mary Emma was in ICU and they didn't know if she would suffer brain damage or not. So, so, so, so scary. They were just a mess!

My flight (of course) got delayed 4 more times, and by the time I finally left for Memphis (1240 AM), Mary Emma was doing fine, her Cat Scan came back normal and she was going to stay in the hospital for observation. Whew... I got to Memphis at about 130 AM, and Lee picked me up at the airport. By this time everyone was exhausted - emotionally and physically.

Mary Nell (Lee's sister) stayed at the hospital while her husband, Patrick, had to move mountains to get to Memphis from Paducah (where they live) because of the 14 inches of snow that fell. Finally, a neighbor drove Patrick to the hospital (took them almost 5 hours), and the little family was reunited. In the meantime, Lee's dad fell and broke his arm while walking the dog on the ice. The hits just kept on coming...

SO...by the time Christmas Eve rolled around, everyone was pretty much patched up, and we were all just happy that things turned out as well as they did. Such a roller coaster of emotions! Mary Emma got to come home around 3 or so, and she was as good as new, thank goodness. Mr. Huff got a cast, and was just thankful that his left arm was impaired and not his right.

Lee told me that Christmas Eve would be our night, so we packed a little bag, got ready and headed out into the snow and ice. We went to the Peabody Hotel to have a drink and dinner at the Italian restaurant there. Before dinner, we checked into our room - which was so fabulous and QUIET which was a nice change - and then went down to eat. Dinner was so delicious, and it was so nice to just be able to talk and unwind. After that, we went to a little blues bar in the hotel and had a drink. Lee was dead-set on getting up to the roof (I had no idea why), so we went up to the room to get our coats. While we were in the room, he said he wanted to get some champagne to take up to the roof... as he was calling the lobby, I looked on the table in the room, and there was champagne already there. Lee looked so confused - it was hilarious... Anyway, he said that he must've ordered that when he reserved the room, so we poured a glass and began our venture to the roof.

Since it was now 5 degrees and completely iced over, they wouldn't let us up to the Skyway. Foiled! Lee went down and begged the concierge, but it didn't help. He was a bit crestfallen, and I didn't know why...but we decided to just have our champagne in the warm room (which was FINE by me!! haha). When we got there and sat down, Lee told me he loved me...then he said, "Do you know how much I love you?" And, honestly, after that, it becomes a blur! It was so romantic, and he told me that he wanted me to be his wife and that he loves me more than anything in the world...and then he got on his knee and proposed. Such an amazing moment. Actually, he said, "You didn't say yes!" To which I responded, "You didn't ask!" He had only said "I want you to be my wife..." So, then he said, "Will you marry me?" And I said "yes" and we laughed and cried and had more champagne. :)

So, there you go! A really memorable Christmas indeed. Haven't set the date yet, but we're thinking maybe October...