June 15, 2008

• A Modest Proposal...

  I'm in Belfast as I type this, enjoying a very special birthday weekend. As many of you know, I haven't really done much celebrating the last couple of birthdays, so this weekend P wanted to do something special. I said that I didn't want to do anything too big as I've never really bothered with birthdays anyway, so we agreed to keep it to something intimate.

  
  

  P works in the arts in Belfast, and got us tickets to see a number of shows at the Pick n Mix festival at the OMAC theatre. Pick n Mix is a weekend-long festival whereby the theatre companies of Northern Ireland showcase short performances - rehearsed readings, previews of work-in-progress, even full performances - as a chance to get a taste of what's happening in theatre in NI. By the end of the weekend I will have seen 7 different performances! P is in one piece sitting in a wheelchair, wrapped in bandages and blowing a red trumpet - I'm so proud! 

  
  

  Anyway, on Friday (my birthday) after we left OMAC, P took me out for a special birthday dinner. He took me to a restaurant called Beatrice Kennedy's, near Queens University, where we had a magical night. The food was some of the nicest I think I have ever eaten in my life - I had moroccan lamb, P had loin of pork. It just melted in the mouth. The venue was relaxed and intimate too, and the staff were really lovely and very professional. I've decided that when I move to Belfast, we should eat in Beatrice Kennedy's at least once a week! P may have to hold me back...

  
  

  The best part was yet to come. When dessert arrived, the waitress also brought a little present box, all wrapped up. Inside was a pendant, and a note from P, who excused himself from the table so I could read it. The note said that he had made the pendant himself from two of our birthstones, Moonstone and Carnelian. It said how he wanted to be with me, and asked if I would agree to become engaged to him - it was a proposal! I was so surprised, I didn't know what to say, except...

  
  

  Yes.

  
  

  Don't worry, we haven't gone completely off our rockers. We're not running off to Gretna Green to tie the knot this instant - we will do that after we have lived together for awhile and settled in with one another. But the engagement is to confirm our commitment to one another - P said he especially wanted to make that commitment, as he knows I am making a big commitment by selling the house and moving to Belfast to be with him. What a lucky guy I am!

  • 5:07 am
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