FromtheJournalist’sDesk
Love stories come in all shapes and sizes and I’ll admit Paul Gaudette’s and mine is unusual with plenty of twists and turns.
The latest turn is that I said yes at the end of a pretty romantic proposal.
Last weekend Paul mentioned to me that he had written a column on page 2A and asked if I could proof it when I had time.
I often proof or listen to his columns in the paper so of course I said yes. At the time, I thought it was a bit odd because Paul is often a last-minute kind of column writer and 2A is regularly the final page completed, but hey, I was happy it was done.
(I was happier after I read it, but I digress.)
Monday morning rolled around and I was in the mind-set of getting things done because I had commissioner’s court at 9 a.m. and a ton of stories to write.
I opened up page 2A and there it was, Paul’s column gloating about how wonderful I was.
As I read, I was a little embarrassed at how much he praised me and then towards the end I was in shock when he said he had hidden my ring in my desk and then asked me to marry him in print.
As I started crying and retrieved the ring, I walked over to Paul where he knelt and put the ring on my finger. This part is a little blurry because I was so surprised.
After having a mere moment to get hugs and a kiss or two, I had to run out the door to cover the aforementioned commissioner’s court meeting. In the pouring, cold rain.
I will admit the meeting is also a blur because I couldn’t stop looking at my beautiful rose ring. Neither Paul nor myself are diamond people so he made sure to find a unique ring with a symbol he knew I would love - a rose with leaves.
Growing up, my grandpa would always give my grandma the first blossom off of the rose bushes in spring and with a marriage lasting 59 years, roses became a symbol of love and devotion for me. My mom is also a florist so my ring will make me smile and think of her with every single day.
He knew that. He listens, pays attention to what’s important to me, puts me first in all things and makes my coffee for me every single morning.
When I met Paul 13 years ago it was as a stranger at a Texas Center for Community Journalism Seminar for social media. Facebook was fairly new and we were both fairly new too to the world of journalism.
I honestly don’t know why we connected that first time other than it had to be for a journalism question or two but we started becoming friends.
We dated briefly and even during that time I knew he was a man with honor and integrity. A person that I wanted in my life always.
But sometimes life has different ideas and we weren’t able to maintain contact.
When we reconnected as friends in 2019, I suspected he had grown up some but knew he was still filled with honor and integrity. As we began to date again - four hours away from each other and in the middle of a pandemic, I began to learn what love really means.
I eventually learned that his “pumpkin time” was essentially 10 p.m. but he would stay up almost every night after my 10 p.m. deadline to talk to me on the phone or to read together on the same book from two different places.
When his mom got COVID-19 and he was also quarantined, I listened and talked myself out of driving four hours in the dark. He was in tears about the possibility of his mom going into the hospital by herself (she didn’t have to in the end) and I knew at that time, that I loved him.
That love has turned into passion, sacrifice, dedication and devotion and a relationship with a man I am fortunate to call my own. I have found my prince. And he is definitely charming.
Wyndi Veigel is the Content Editor for the Dublin Citizen and can be reached at composing@ dublincitizen. com.