December 4, 1972...

...a handsome young college student drove his girlfriend to a basketball game in his 1965 Plymouth Belvedere. They never got to the game. While in the parking lot, this young man found the courage to ask for his beloved's hand in marriage, and she said yes, after thinking for....maybe thirty seconds.

The ring in the corner is purely for effect. The young lady wore no diamonds until the 32nd year of their life together; until then the diamonds were spent on peanut butter and shoes and braces. She wears the diamonds now, joyfully, as a reminder of the things in life that are really important.

Thank you, Papa, for seeing something in this girl that no one else had seen. Thank you for staying.

UPDATE: Seems I might have been too clever by half...half a YEAR, that is. I was writing not about our real anniversary, but about the anniversary of our engagement 34 years ago today. I was really not clear, as evidenced by all the congratulations emails, comments, and ecards that are coming in LOL...thank you all for your kind words, and I'll get back to you in July for the BIG 34 :-)