An Engaging Time

I cannot remember if I flew home or took the Northland Prince, but July finally arrived and I was on my way to Vancouver. There were no fancy jewelery stores in Ocean Falls and 'mail ordering' a diamond ring just didn't work for me, so when I asked Lis to marry me, I had no ring to give her. So the first thing on the agenda was a shopping trip to downtown Vancouver to buy gold and diamonds. We spent a wonderful day looking at rings, with a decent budget to work with, and we eventually settled on one we both liked. Now we could tell the world. Well, not quite yet. There was one last hurdle to cross and I was really hoping that it was a just a formality. Those were the sixties and it was the right thing to do. I had to ask permission. We arranged a 'meeting' that night with Lis's mom and dad and after a wonderful dinner, and after her pesky brothers were sent away, we four had a chat. Lis's dad was a little intimidating for me but he was very affable that night and I think he was nervous, like me, and fully knew what was coming. He told stories about his time in South America and I was really enjoying the stories but getting nervous every time I looked at the clock. Lis told me that they always went to bed early and I knew it was well past their bedtime. I was not sure how to break into the conversation and switch from Chaco Cowboys to wedding plans. With an encouraging look from Lis, I summoned up the courage, finally. I still remember the words that were spoken.

Me: "I think you know why Lis and I wanted to talk to you tonight" (half asking, half telling)

Future Father-in-law: " Yes, we know. It's OK. You have our blessing"

Then looking at my future mother-in-law he said, " Let's go to bed mom, it is late."

I sat there thinking, "That was too easy." I had been prepared, like a defence attorney at a trial, to present my case, my arguments, supporting documents, etc. etc.

It looked like we were getting married and we set October 2, 1970 as the big day. Now we could tell the rest of the world.