An Independence Day Story

4th of July, seven years ago…

The Agent and I went to a party at a friend’s house. We stayed for the BBQ, but our plan was to leave before dark, and drive up into the foothills to see the city fireworks. It was The Agent's idea, and for one who is not especially romantic, I was pleased that he could come up with this all by himself.

My girlfriend Lyssa pulled me aside as we were leaving. “Do you think he’s going to propose tonight?” I smiled and didn’t answer, but yeah, that’s what I thought. We had been talking about getting married, we had already bought a house together, and we had already been shopping for rings. It was going to happen, it was just a matter a when. And watching fireworks on the fourth of July is as good a day as any. I was expecting it.

We were a little late leaving the party, and the sun was already setting as we sped off into the country. And then The Agent made a wrong turn and made us even later. The Agent was incredibly grumpy. “We’re going to miss it,” he said angrily. I was a little baffled. What’s the big deal? So we miss the first explosion? Take a pill.

The Agent  found a place to park just as the first fireworks were being lit. We sat in lawn chairs outside and enjoyed the show, along with several other couples who had the same idea. It was beautiful, and we all applauded during the particularly spectacular bursts. At one point, I was standing, and The Agent came around from behind and put his arms around me. He kissed me and told me how much he loved me. “This is it,” I thought. “Remember this moment.”

But the moment ended and we continued watching the show.

After the last colorful sparkles had disintegrated, we packed up our chairs and drove home. The Agent held my hand in the car as I babbled on about how beautiful it was, what a perfect day, hint, hint, hint. Nothing. Well, clearly there will be no proposal tonight, so I stopped thinking about it.

When we got home, I opened the back door to let our dog in. No dog. We had a basenji who had been known to jump our 6 foot high fence on several occasions in the past. I assumed that the fireworks had scared him and he had jumped the fence in his fear. “Your dumb dog has jumped the fence again,” I told The Agent. “You’d better go look for him.”

So The Agent was gone for the next hour, searching for Buddy, while I made sure that there was food and water outside, in case he came home his own, which he had done before.

The Agent came home empty handed, and I worried about the dog for the rest of the night.

The next morning, The Agent was in bed, whispering my name. I opened one eye. The Agent was laying in bed next to me, looking at me.

And he’s holding a ring.

That woke me right up. I sat up. “I’m already the luckiest guy in the world, since I met you,” he said. “But now I want to be the luckiest husband in the world. Lovely One, will you marry me?”

Yes. Of course, yes.

The Agent then said that he had the ring with him since the day before at the party, but the time was never right. He didn’t want to do it in front of our friends, and then he didn’t want to do it in front of strangers in the foothills, either. And then we got home and there was all the drama with the dog, so the time was never right. Then The Agent figured that the time would never be absolutely perfect, but he was ready to start the perfect life with me.

He’s awesome.

(Sadly, Buddy never did come home. We never saw him again. I hope he’s ok, I hope he found a good home. I felt very bad that his disappearance took a back seat after my engagement. I’m not a dog lover, but he was a good dog. A perfect dog to take camping. We have two dogs now, they’re dumber than a box of rocks. We can’t take them camping, because they’re afraid to get in the car. One doesn’t even like to be leashed, and she has an irrational fear of stepping on linoleum. They were both rescued dogs, saved from shelters. They lived hard lives before finding us)