a beautiful world

I saw a couple get engaged today, and I've pretty much been weepy ever since.

I took my girls to the zoo after church - we hadn't been in a long time (since Christmas, I think) and we were having just a terrific time checking out what's new (a HUGE area devoted to bears that looks a lot like our current backyard!), visiting old favorites (tree kangaroos for Naomi, otters for Nattie, and just about everything else for me), and just enjoying each other's company. As we were stopped in front an exhibit in the primate house, Naomi began to, without uttering a word, tap me on the shoulder. I turned to face her, and she pointed over to another exhibit - an open air one about ten feet away - where I saw a young man on his knee, holding up a ring while a young woman was tearfully looking down at him, her hand over her mouth in shock and surprise. We waited (along with only one other woman nearby who realized what was happening) until it was obvious that the young woman had said yes, and then, led by Naomi, we all began to applaud. I started to cry, and haven't really been able to reel the tears in since then.

I remember so clearly the night my husband proposed to me - it was just about as perfect of a moment as I have ever had in my life. My husband, like this young man today, got down on one knee, completely out of the blue as far as I was concerned, and pulled a lovely white ring box out of his pocket. We were sitting on a bench in the gardens outside of the historic Sellwood church in northeast Portland. The sun was setting in the background. Boats were meandering along the Willamette River below us, and the warm, late Spring breeze was blowing the precious few clouds that were in the sky. I remember thinking that all of the dreams of love, romance, and happily ever after I had ever had as a young (and, honestly, a not-so-young) girl were on the brink of coming true...and all of that came flooding back to me today as I watched, through my tears, these young lovebirds begin the next chapter of their very own "happily ever after". I felt so hopeful for them, and for life in general, at that moment. Who woulda thought - right in the middle of the monkeys no less! :-)

Max Ehmann penned (in Desiderata), "With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is stil a beautiful world." Today, I got a much-needed glimpse of that beauty, with a dream-come-true mixed right into the midst of it. How fortunate am I.....