Cupids Dating Blog

I think a good romance story should have a little grit to it, by which I don't mean a long, melodramatic Harlequin-style plot. I think there just needs to be a little irony and a little humor to keep things from going over the top. Maybe an example would help. I've got a friend who got married recently and at the wedding I asked him to tell me how he proposed. He's a bit of a shy guy, so I was curious how he went about it. His story, I think, was near perfect.

He's from Colorado, and when he was young he spent a lot of time outdoors. He's really the outdoorsman type. He likes fishing and hunting and pretty well anything that takes him into the wild. When he wanted to propose, he thought he'd take his Italian angel, who he'd met while in university in Toronto, and introduce her to his family and show her where he came from.

She, however, is not really into the wilderness thing. She likes camping, but it's not necessarily what she considers romantic. So my friend, naturally, takes her on an absurdly long hike to show her his favorite lake. She, just happy to be with him, complains only mildly and doesn’t want to turn back until they're almost halfway there. My friend, nervous, can't deviate from his plan, so he keeps urging her along.

So, finally, they break out of the woods and into a clearing and a huge vista featuring a secluded lake opens up before them. His girlfriend admits that it was worth the hike. My friend asks his lady to marry him and she responds "you didn't even have to ask. Yes!" To which my friend, the perfect gentleman, responds, "holy freaking crap!"

It's not that he didn't expect her to say yes, it's just that there is a mountain lion staring at them. At this point in the story, my friend begins to explain that, when out in the wild, he usually carries a gun but that he'd left it at home in deference to his girlfriend who disapproves of such things.

The mountain lion stared at them for a couple of seconds and then took off. My friends are fine. They are happily married. That, in my opinion, is a perfect story. It cracks me up, doesn't make me nauseous and still ends well.