THE ENGAGEMENT!

I knew two weeks before she did that February 20,  2015 would change her life forever.
Her boyfriend called me to ask if he could marry her.  I remember the shock of him asking me, but of course her had never met her dad or stepfather.  I started shaking and cried.  My beautiful, sensitive, shy daughter of choice, was being chosen to be a wife.  A dream she never believed could be attainable for her.

My daughter became my daughter at the age of ten, through some of the circumstance in life that happen to children in our country.

The first Christmas she spent with me, was a tear jerker.  The quiet but mischievous little girl was sitting in a chair contentedly by the living room window looking out at the magical dusting of snow.

I asked her what she was thinking about, in her own innocent way she brought soul tears to my eyes.
"I always wanted a family that put Christmas lights in the window.  Now I have everything I ever wanted."  Such simplicity and purity of a child who had endured horrific abuse and abandonment.

Twelve years later she has more than she wants with a man she didn't know existed.  Someone who accepts her, her story and loves her as is.  For Christmas he gave her a locket, engraved with "sweet angel' his special name for her on the back.

The challenge will be making a wedding she will remember without the stress of our harsh financial reality imposing its throttlehold on festivities...

I started with a simple gather of friends for a surprise engagement party in my small prairie townhouse rental.  About twenty of us gathered for less than twenty=two dollars food cost, as I made homemade chicken, cashew and mango curry, with rice, Caesar salad and angel food cake with strawberries.

Lots of candlelight, laughter, congratulatory cards, and friendly advice would rival any fancy sit down restaurant celebration. 

I can be very frugal but this will be a wedding she will love...