I hadn’t written anything about this yet because I didn’t really know what to say. I’d never had to approach the topic before. So I’ll just go straight from the heart, and hope the details are remembered correctly.

Wednesday, after class, I spent the afternoon finding a florist. I needed daisies; I knew that they were her favorite. The rest of the time before choir was spent in anxious anticipation of seeing her and trying to figure out what I was going to say to her. Those daisies in the refrigerator served as a reminder that I couldn’t turn back. Of course, I didn’t want to.

I remember asking her if I could talk with her after choir. This was normal procedure after choir anyway, so she told me okay, and now I had my opportunity.

After choir, we milled around a little bit, talking with a mutual friend. Normally, I enjoy talking to all of my friends down here, but I was just waiting for the end of the conversation so that I could gather up all of my nerves. At one point, the two asked to see the truck, seeing as they’d only seen me in the Blazer before. Before I could remember that I had something in the truck that was not something I wanted to show to both of them, I’d said, “Sure,” and all three of us had headed over towards the S-10. About ten feet from it, I realized what I’d done, and proceeded to add the modifier “awkward” to what was already a nerve-wracking situation. I’ll give the friend credit, though; she picked up pretty quickly. Both walked over to the friend’s car. If they said anything to each other, I don’t know what it was.

Finally, the moment of truth had arrived. I called her over to my truck, realizing as I did so that I still didn’t know how I was going to ask her. I remember picking up the flowers from the seat and handing them to her, and her exclaiming, “Daisies!” She took the white-petaled mini-bouquet and looked at me, knowing full well what was coming next. Was that a hint of a smile on her face? It was hard to tell; the shadows concealed too much for me to know anything for sure, and I wouldn’t have admitted it if I had seen it for sure.

I really don’t remember a lot of what I said; it was very stream-of-consciousness. I know that I remember saying that she had been an inspiration to me. Whatever I said, it apparently got the point across. She asked me a couple of questions about what my intentions were, and then she said five words that I will never forget.

“My answer would be yes.”

In my wildest dreams, I had not planned on hearing that last word. And at that point, something changed in me. I can’t give you a feeling to compare it to. All the insecurities that I had harbored about myself for such a long time fell away, replaced by new feelings of equal parts joy and excitement, with a big dose of nervous energy on top. It was the most wonderful feeling that I’ve felt in years.

There was a lot more to talk about that night, obviously. If my heart was beating fast before, it was going double-time now, because I had absolutely no idea how to proceed. We decided to go to Steak and Shake to talk, because I hadn’t eaten since lunch and it was now close to 10:00. We talked for four hours that night. It seemed like time stopped for us and yet passed so quickly. I’m sure that I still wasn’t making a lot of sense at the time, and I remember that I was still so nervous that I didn’t finish my meal, even though I was practically starving.

Since then we have spent a lot of time together, obviously, and to say that I enjoy being with her is the early front-runner for the understatement of the year.

This week, I’ve been back to class, and already received a project in one of my classes and taken two pre-tests. I’ve been sick with sinus problems. I’m currently going on two hours of sleep, and have had problems sleeping since I’ve been sick. On the plus side, I’ve joined our church’s praise team and been published in a daily e-mail list that subsequently gave my little site the biggest day hitwise in its seven-year history.

But this week will be remembered always for the cold Wednesday January night, and the five little words that were said to me as I was sitting in the passenger seat of my truck, looking unbelievingly at the lady speaking them: “my answer would be yes.”