Sunday, August 9, 2015

First comes love

So Andy and Rachel are engaged! So let me answer a few questions that I have been answering all weekend long already.

Yes, we TOTALLY love her!
Yes, we already knew ( and it was really difficult to keep to ourselves!).
No, we aren't sure when yet- I'm sure Andrew and Rachel will figure that out all in good time.

But let's get to the really good part -cause this is going down as one of my favorite stories of all time!

Andrew came to us about 6 months ago and told us he was ready to take this next step and wanted our advice. Naturally we told him he had to go speak to Rob, Rachel's father. Andrew turned the appropriate shade of grey. We both said if he wasn't man enough to speak to Rob, he wasn't man enough to get married. The Rob gauntlet would have to be run. 

A month went by. He was ready to go speak to her father, but he also wanted to keep it a secret, how to do both-hmmph? Sneak that I am, I told him to text Rob. But, he didn't have his number. Ok so, go steal it from Rachel's phone next time she goes to the restroom- problem solved. If you know Andy, you know that wayyyy too much thought went into each of these steps.

Another month went by, he told us he had the number and was ready to text Rob and ask for a meeting. He put the number in his cell as R. Willman (tuck this little important piece of information into your head for later down the page). Poor Peter had to listen to him day after day at work as he ironed out the details of what he wanted to text. 

One bright morning he awakened with a sufficient amount of courage and a solid plan, and decided to  text Rob that he'd like to meet and could they please keep it private. 'Sure Andrew, when and where?' they go back and forth working out the details of Robs work schedule versus Andrew's work schedule versus Rachel's schedule to keep all things private. Andy had arrived at work by this point and Peter was rooting him on from the sidelines. All was going well until....

Rachel began texting him simultaneously. "Hey Andy, I miss you! When am I going to see you again?"

Single minded Andrew starts to get flustered. He doesn't want to give anything away to Rachel and is simultaneously in the middle of texting her dad. He answers her curtly and goes back to getting the details from Rob. 

R. Willman; "Ok then Andy, I'll meet you at Panera's at 5pm this monday."

Rachel texts again- you are coming over tonight right?

Andrew  to R. Willman: "OK. sounds good! I love and miss you and I can't wait to see you and hug you again!"


He then turns to Peter and says "OH MY GOSH PETER!!!! I JUST TOLD RACHEL'S DAD I LOVE HIM AND AM GONNA GO HUG HIM!!!"

He got a one word response from her father: "AWKWARD"

And like all loving brothers world-wide Peter got absolutely hysterical laughing. He then came home and told Fred and I and John-Paul and Matt, and we all laughed and cried and rolled around on the floor until  our stomachs hurt. (I also saved the screen shot of the text to make myself laugh at some later date, and as evidence.)

He went on to survive the meeting. And to be honest if he survived that text, he could survive the rest of the gauntlet. He also  managed to keep the secret from Rachel, and pull off a very romantic proposal from all accounts. 

What more can I say to you two tonight Andrew and Rachel? I suppose only this: may you be as incredibly happy and blessed in your marriage as we have been in ours. Keep God at the center of your life and you're sure to do well. We love you so much and look forward to seeing each day unfold!


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