First Day of My Life

The scene: Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes.

While sitting in the candlelight, listening to the choir sing songs especially prepared for this most holy of occasions, my eyes fall upon the thoughtful devotion written below:

" 'When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb.' Words have the power to change lives, in fact to change the world. The stories of Mary and Elizabeth are proof of this. What word does the story of your life tell? Mary and Elizabeth, each one separately and both together, allowed their hope and courage to be stronger than the doubts and judgements of others. They encouraged and supported each other. They celebrated and praised God for the gift they were to each other..."

At this moment, I had a flashback to earlier that morning when my partner and I were opening presents (he could not wait another day). After we had depleted our piles of gifts, I mentioned there was one more. He denied that there were more from his end. I said I had one more gift.

I went out of the living room and came back with a small box shaped like a Chinese delivery box. Inside was a giant silver fortune cookie with hinges. When this "cookie" was opened, inside was a slip of paper with the words "나와 결혼해 추세요" (Will you marry me?) with this ring around it. He said "yes" and we hugged and kissed for a long time. Then, trying not to cry (unsuccessfully), I attempted to sing my own version of this poignant song by Bright Eyes. (My rendition is below, the link is to the original on YouTube. Fun fact: This music video was directed by John Cameron Mitchell, creator and actor of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.)

Anyway so that's our news. It may not come as a surprise for most of you (this being our fifth Christmas together) and some of you smart readers even caught hints dropped in previous posts! We'll post further details when they become known to us!

Happy New Year Everyone!

This is the first day of my life,
Glad I didn't die before I met you
But now I don't care I could go anywhere with you
And I'd probably be happy.

Remember the time we drove all night
To see the sunrise in the morning
And I thought it was strange
You said everything changed
You felt as if you'd just woke up

Yours is the first face that I saw
Think I was blind before I met you
I don't know where I am I don't know where I've been
But I know where I want to go

So I thought I'd let you know
That these things take forever
I especially am slow
But I realized that I need you
And I wondered if we could grow old

So if you wanna be with me
With these things there's no telling
We just have to wait and see
But I'd rather be working for a paycheck
Than waiting to win the lottery
Besides maybe this time it's different
I mean I really think you love me...