Saying "I love you"

Many of you know a lot about our story--our dating, how we began talking about marriage etc, but something that I don't think many people know is that when Chuck & I started dating we talked about and made a commitment to one another that we did not want to use the words "I love you" with one another unless we were getting engaged. At that point we had no idea where this relationship would end up, but he was the one who said he did not want to say those words to another woman until he had a ring in his hand and was able to offer her a promise of commitment, to offer her himself. I had never said those words to a guy before so I was appreciative of his desire to create a boundary like this, to protect us from hurting one another even more if we were to not make it. It's probably the biggest thing in our relationship that I am most thankful that we did. Yes, it was tough at times! Around April or so, when we sort of started talking about marriage, it became harder, but we knew we didn't want to break our commitment, so we found other, more creative ways to communicate how we felt. He always told me that the next time he said those words he wanted the next words out of his mouth to be "will you marry me?" And sure enough, when he stopped me on that street corner last August and started talking, he looked me in the eye, said that he loved me and then dropped to his knee to ask me to be his wife. And later, at dinner, I had the chance to look him in the eye and say those words back (they didn't come out with my "yes!" in all the chaos!)

Tonight we were on my couch talking, and I asked him if he was ready to make his vows to me in a week, and he said he feels kind of like he already did, he said he made a promise to me when he put this ring on my hand that he wasn't going anywhere, but that yes, he is very excited to make "official" vows next Saturday. Then he just leaned over and whispered, "I love you, and I am not leaving you, I am not going anywhere, you are stuck with me." And of course I cried. (I'm going to be a mess next week--note to bridesmaids, bring kleenex!) Those words haven't lost their power, hearing him say "I love you" in moments like that is still just as powerful as it was 7 months ago on that street corner, hearing them for the first time. In one week we are going to stand before our family and closest friends and make those promises official, and I can't wait!