First Comes Love...

Then comes the engagement.

I am an engaged woman now to a wonderful man who I am so excited to share my life with!

I think most people that were interested have seen the proposal video, but I wanted to share with you my side of the story.

I went home to Horseheads on December 15th with Jackson. He had the intention of asking my dad for his blessing to marry me-- But that's all I knew. I was told this lovely ring of mine wouldn't be ready until the New Year. He asked him the first night we were home, at 11:30 pm to be exact. While this was happening, I was up in my room having a panic attack under the bed....No joke. I was expecting my dad to be outraged-- I vividly remember him telling me at the age of 18 that I shouldn't get married until I turn 30.

This cute clip from Father of the Bride makes me picture what must have been going through my dad's head at the time, even though I wasn't there....It also makes me cry.

I think in my dad's mind I'm still a little girl, which is fine to me...I'll always be 'Daddy's Little Girl'. But instead of what I thought would happen (a catastrophe), my dad was so happy for Jackson and me. That night when Jackson told me how the conversation went, I cried. My dad's happiness for us was so important to me. Family is so important to me!

Which is why I couldn't have dreamed of a better proposal.

Saturday, December 17th was my planned 'faux Christmas'. Since I wasn't going to be home on Christmas day, my family planned to exchange gifts with me on Saturday. I planned to be at my dad's for a little, then have dinner (dutch meatballs, THE BEST) at my mom's afterwards. My dad told me that he invited my mom and her boyfriend over to exchange gifts, too. I wasn't suspicious, instead I was overjoyed that I could have my faux-Christmas with my entire family together. My Christmas dream come true! Fast forward to everyone coming over. Jackson played 'sick' and I believed every minute of it. We began to exchange gifts; My dad's video camera out (which happens during every Christmas event), my family happy and together, Christmas music playing in the background....And then this happens:

The 'Aws' and the crying, I just couldn't help it.

The best part: My entire family was in on the proposal; That's why the whole family gathered in the first place. My dad was a trooper and helped Jackson plan the whole thing (video credits go to him, thanks dad!!). Sadly, no Dutch meatballs were in order. Instead, my dad made reservations for us to go to Tanino's --Family favorite restaurant in Horseheads. My family already had beautiful engagement cards already written out for me. So sneaky.

Honestly, combining My entire family + The man I love = Pure joy for me!!! Which is why this was absolutely perfect. Remember when I said that graduation was the best day of my life? I think this tops it. I think the wedding will be even better.

P.S. Helpful hint: If you go to the youtube link, you'll find a nice little video (albeit 14 minutes long) of a compilation of videos/pictures from when Jackson and I first started dating to now. It's lovely. Feel free to fast forward through the zoo videos....But everything else is beautiful.

I'm going to watch Father of the Bride now. I will say, my dad is so much cooler than Steve Martin.

Giving Thanks part 2.

So, did anyone else find out in their mid-twenties that their grandpa was a serious hero/bad-A?!

We're all getting ready for the Thanksgiving dinner when my aunt casually brought up my Opa's story (that's Dutch for grandpa). Apparently my mom has a bad memory.

Background: My Opa died a year before I was born of pancreatic cancer. I have not heard ONE bad thing about my Opa. My dad to this day talks of how his ex-father-in-law was one of the kindest, sincere men he has ever met in his life. I wish I had had the pleasure of meeting him and spending some time with him. I wish even more now that I heard how wonderful he was.

Opa was also known as Jan Van Den Berg. He was born and raised in Holland.

He turned into one striking young man. The look on his face in this next picture (he's in the middle)....

Now for my favorite part....My Opa was a member of the Dutch Underground (also known as the Dutch Resistance). Believe me, it's as cool as it sounds. My Opa hid Jews from the Nazis. You know how Anne Frank and her family hid in a kind family's home/store in Holland? My Opa took a family into his home and hid them in order to help them survive. Can you imagine the bravery that took? What a selfless act!!

The story gets worse, but then better. My Opa was eventually caught. They sent those who hid the Jews to the concentration camps too.... The Nazis took my Opa and put him on a line to a train headed for death at a concentration camp. Do you know what that man did? He fled the line. Story goes there were shots fired at him as he ran. But he escaped!!! (obviously, if he didn't I wouldn't be here today.)

From there, he joined the Dutch Marines....He was stationed in England. There, he met my Oma, Amy Van Den Berg. The rest is history:

This postcard was sent to Holland to tell family he arrived safe in New York after immigrating there from England with my Oma. His return address was 138 E 36th St, New York, NY 10016. The crazy part: I lived 2 blocks from their first apartment (in the US) last year and never even knew.

I wish I could thank him for living such a wonderful life and tell him that I'm proud to be his grand daughter (and tell him we could have been neighbors!!). That is honestly the most moving story I have ever heard.

Thanks to my Aunt Maggie for having these wonderful pictures, her memory, and for keeping family history.