Nate’s and my excitement mounted as the days ticked off toward our engagement weekend. I was all set to take an early morning train from Chicago to Topeka on July 3^rd, but there was one big problem. The ring still hadn’t arrived to my apartment mailbox. Since there was no way to phone Nate and it was too late for a letter to reach him, I had only one choice: a telegram. So on the morning of Thursday, July 3^rd, I sent word to Ft. Riley:

“NO RING YET. WILL WAIT FOR THURSDAY MAIL AND COME ON LATEST TRAIN. LOVE MEG”

When the mailman came walking down our city sidewalk that day, I was waiting for him. “Do you have a package for me?” And sure enough, he did. My heart had butterflies as I raced into the apartment to show my roommate. The two of us held hands and jumped up and down like a couple of kindergarteners, rejoicing over a small unopened brown box we knew had treasure hidden inside.

I tucked the package into the center of my suitcase and headed downtown by “L” train, to the Dearborn Street Station. Though the late train rolled into Topeka after 2:00 AM, Nate was there waiting for me. And just like the song said, “His arms opened wide and closed me inside.” I was in heaven.

[ The following account is taken from a retrospective I wrote after arriving home on July 6. Please forgive the sentimentality! ]

When we arrived at the motel, room 136, Nate kindly asked me to relax on the sofa while he excused himself for a moment. I propped my head up with two fresh pillows he’d given me, and my imagination ran wild with thoughts of what beautiful, creative things that fantastic man might do.

Shortly he returned with one hand behind his back, a glow on his cheeks, and the grin of all grins on his face. He was curbing his excitement, it was obvious, and by this time I was very much doing the same thing. As he walked toward me, he clicked off several lights, leaving only one low bulb burning, that being the lamp just above my head.

He pulled a chair up to my side and brought the Gideon Bible from behind his back, a pale blue cover with deep blue around the edges. It was open to “Song of Solomon” from which he began reading: “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair.”

I watched his eyes move across the lines, catching their sparkle when, every so often, on a meaningful phrase, he would raise his gaze to meet mine, communicating an added sacredness to the occasion. How beautiful and right that the words of Scripture should precede all else.

I watched his lips as they read the words, from chapters 4 and 7: “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.” The words were sincere, articulate, and wonderful in my ears as he read, leaning close, speaking softly, clearly, meaningfully. I loved him more than ever before and felt closer.

When he finished, he looked through my eyes and into my open heart, talking calmly and thoughtfully of the elements of an engagement bond, of a marriage commitment, of OUR bond and OUR commitment, of what the future would hold, of how he would treat his wife and children, of how our home and our individual lives would be based on the guidance and never-failing love of Christ, who brought us together and fanned our love-flame into a strong warm glowing fire.

After setting the Bible on the floor, he took me into his arms for a moment without saying a word… and then whispered, “Will you marry me?”

“The greatest… is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)