Gretchen and Nelson

Posted Monday, March 30, 2009 11:19 AM

I met my fiance, Nelson, in high school in 2000, but we didn't start dating until October 2006. When we started dating, he was in the US Army, so our relationship was long-distance from the start. In February 2007, I left to study abroad in Australia for six months. Since Nelson and I had only been dating for three months, we knew that this time apart would be a huge test on our relationship.

In June 2007, Nelson surprised me and told me that he'd be making the 10,000-mile trip to Australia for two weeks so he could visit with me, and I was so thrilled! My friends kept teasing me and saying things like, "He's totally going to propose!" and "You know he's going to propose! He's traveling halfway around the world for you!" I told them that he probably wouldn't since we’d only been together for eight months, so the possibility of him proposing wasn't even on my mind.

On June 26, we enjoyed a wonderful day trip to Phillip Island near Melbourne, Australia. We rode around on a tour bus the entire day, taking in the beautiful sights around us. Later on that night, we made our last stop to see the famous Phillip Island Penguin Parade. After about 40 minutes of watching little penguins waddle ashore, I wanted to follow them up to boardwalk. However, before I could turn to walk away, Nelson pulled me toward him and hugged me. I assumed he was hugging me because it was chilly outside, but he had other intentions! He told me he loved me and asked me to marry him, to which I replied, "Are you joking!?" since I was caught off-guard! After he assured me that no, he wasn't joking, I of course accepted and said yes! We hugged for a while and then were kicked off the beach since we were the last ones there. Instead of admiring the penguins on the boardwalk, I admired my new diamond ring under every light post I came across. We couldn't wait to head back and call our families back home in Connecticut and Maryland, but we had to wait to call because of the 15-hour time difference!