venetian proposal

I've rewritten my introduction to this entry twenty-times over. I'm afraid that my feeble attempt at summarising a moment that changed my life, simply isn't sufficient. No pressure, but this is something my kids will read one day. What's more, things like this only happen once in a lifetime. Hence, I only get to write about it once. Ever. So...

At 04:00am on Saturday morning, 10 May 2008, I was woken by a phone call from Fox to say that he was outside my front door. I probably should have been alarmed but the line between dream and reality was relatively blurred at that point. Bounding into my flat, Fox instructed me to get ready, gather my things and find my passport – we were taking a trip. On arrival at the airport an hour later, I let out a squeal of delight on discovering that we were headed to Venice. I have two dream-destinations: New York and Venice.
The rest of the day was spent exploring, what is said to be, the most romantic city in the world. I was totally engulfed by it’s charm, as Fox and I meandered the quaint streets leading off St Mark’s Square and strolled beside it’s many enchanting canals. I was like a kid captivated by the magic of Disneyland.
As the sun began to set and we continued to amble along in search of dinner, Fox led me down a narrow street that led to a quiet jetty, away from the crowds and the buzz of tourists. As I naively narrated an impromptu video while a gondola glided by, what I didn’t realise was that Fox was preparing himself to launch into a 32-line poem, which he had written and memorised. As realisation dawned I could feel my body tensing and then the tears begin to prick my eyes. As I heard the words “…Roxanne Sarah Tagg, I ask you, will you be my wife?” I could fight the tears no more and I responded with, “Of course I’ll be your wife!”

The last few weeks have a been a surreal combination of delighted congratulations from friends and family, wedding arrangements, venue bookings, dress shopping and getting used to be called, and having, a fiancé. It's nuts but totally, indescribably amazing! And it's only just begun.