Asked and answered it yourself, just out of order.

Congratulations by the way.......

 

lmfao! I was just about to post that!!

 

My parents have been married over 71 years and I think theirs it's going to last.

I've been married 25 and it is the best thing I've ever done. I failed to ask my wife to marry me and I really should have. I decided to move to another state for a business I wanted to get into so I gave her a ring and "told" her we were getting married. I knew she wanted to get married so I skipped the question. I do wish I'd asked though...

 

dont do it....

 

To quote Omar, "Indeed."




HUGE UPDATE:

Sorry I was so brief in my original post but future Mrs. E.G. walked in as I was typing. Here's our story... I've only been dating her a relatively short while. We worked together at a law firm (she's an attorney and I'm the director of marketing) and we went out under the guise of friends. The first date was all talking under that umbrella so it was very casual. This turned out to be great because it gave me a chance to honestly get to know her and honestly tell her about myself without trying to focus on having sex since neither of us had confessed that we had any romantic interest in the other. In short, I cut all of my normal first date, let-me-impress-you bullshit. It was a blessing in disguise.

By the second date I was falling fast and by the third date I knew I was going to marry her.

This whole relationship is the damnedest thing. She is the polar opposite of every girl I've ever dated. I've always dated, for lack of a better term, punk rock type girls or artsy type girls with multiple piercings, liberal philosophical and political leanings, and daddy issues. This girl is very down to earth and conservative. Hell, she's a Republican! She is every bit a lady and she has a classic beauty and elegance that brings tears to my eyes at times.

This isn't my first rodeo. I've had some strong feelings for various girls and, to be frank, I've dated some 1 and a half dozen girls, some of which were fairly serious, but it has never felt like this and I never thought about marrying the other girls I dated. The prospect of being married and only having sex with one woman for the rest of my life used to sound like a cruel joke. Now I'd give anything for the privilege of only having her. She's all I want.




The fly in the ointment:
Her employment at the law firm I work at was only on a temporary contract basis and she had to take a job on the east coast (I live in Texas), so we are doing the long distance thing. At first we were very practical and in spite of the fact that we were devastated to live apart from each other, it seemed critical that she take this career-making position with the plan of moving back to Texas in a year. Well, she's been gone about a month and there have already been half a dozen plane rides. She's decided to move back to Texas about 10 months ahead of schedule since we're going crazy without each other. It's tough in the short term but nothing we can't handle.




The dilemma:
I have only recently met her parents. We got along swimmingly and I know that they would approve our union... I just don't know that they would be keen about it happening so soon. I am nothing if not a man of honor and I feel compelled to ask her parents' permission to marry their daughter. I know this to be an archaic ritual but the way I see it I am marrying not just Renee, rather I am marrying into her family so I want to start things off on the right foot. The problem is that this is a double-edged sword. If they protest then I will be defying them if I proceed with the proposal. Again, I know they won't object to their daughter marrying me but they may frown upon how soon into our relationship I'm pulling the trigger.

Any thoughts on this? One idea that I had was to write them a very formal letter which explains precisely how I feel for her and that I have the intention of marrying her one day in the not-so-distant future. My theory is that this will soften the blow somewhat and when I show up on their doorstep, hat in hand, they will at least have had time to think about it. I'm open to suggestion. I know that in this day and age that most people would tell me to forgo this symbolic gesture but it feels necessary and like it's the right thing to do.






The awesome stuff:
I took her to do some window shopping in the jewelery district in her city. Nothing implied, just a "show me what type of stuff you like just in case" kind of thing. We looked at several stores and she was giving me pointers about what she liked and didn't like. Then we stepped into a very unassuming store and she found a ring that she went crazy for. She kept saying things like, "I hope something like this is available when you propose one day," etc. We left the store and went to a restaurant. The moment she went to the bathroom I called the jewelery store and put down a deposit on the ring! That was several days ago and I just picked it up today.

My plan is to wait until she moves back to Texas to pop the question but there is a strong chance that I will not be able to contain myself.



Seriously, thank you guys for your honest answers and advice.

 

I haven't gone to law school yet. She has. She makes more money than me.


This is actually really good timing to boot. We both make more money than we need to and we're both still young. My job is very demanding but she is very cool about it since she's in the same industry and knows how it goes. It really makes perfect sense in so many ways.

 

Great answer. We've talked about it. I've been very subtle as not to make it known to her that I'm conspiring to propose (truthfully, she probably sees right through me. She's much smarter than I am in that sense) but we're on the same page.

 

Man, now that I've bought the ring I am going nuts. I may not be able to wait to propose. LOL.

 

how old are you, how old is she?

 

So...

As long as she's met both of the crucial marriage requirements.... full speed ahead sailor.