Stone Soup by Jan Eliot for February 01, 2012

I always said,"your place or mine?

What above said…..totally reject

LOL!!

but I don’t understand – why is gramma acting like she’s offended?

Rina — well, it ain’t exactly candlelight and roses, is it?

Not even citronella and hibiscus.

Of course, he might just be awkward with emotions — but he didn’t seem to have any trouble the other day telling her he loved his whole world “family.”

Well as we get older we get more practical and this is about as practical as you can get!

If Gramma just went there to get married, and not because she gives a damn about volunteering, then Gramma is the one who needs to be rejected.

If one gets married for logistical reasons, one gets, what one deserves!

Wow, it’s like a business proposal! Run Evie, RUN!!

he’s certainly playing it cool

Marry him! Marry him!

I don’t think she’s offended – I think she’s startled. “EXCUSE me?” is Gramma’s version of “Wait, WHAT?” (maybe not every time she says it – that depends on her tone of voice – but this time I’m betting on surprise)

I’m with Trekman58 on this. She should know how he feels my now. Don’t pass up something good because the guy isn’t a romantic. And don’t play games to try to get him to act like one.

Grab it, old girl. At your time in life, there aren’t that many ships stopping at your pier…

Wow! This was not the way I had expected this!I don’t know, no matter what the age, he could have started out a little more romantic than this. Like:“I really enjoy being with you Evie, and I’d love it if you came with me around the world to build houses. It may be rushing things but we obviously care about each other, so I’d love it if we got married.” And then he can talk about practical matters. Not this way! Especially with his addition of “Logistically speaking…” Ouch.

IMO, when she said “EXCUSE me??”, that indicated to him that she was shocked and offended, and he’s trying to save face somehow.

I think Evie is just shocked about the casualness of the proposal. Then again, she should think about a tent for two.

“Logistically”??? Who says that, when they’re proposing?! Careful, big guy, or she might faint away in a romantic swoon :p

he may frightened of rejection… saving the big romantic proposal for when he finds out if she is conducive to the idea… If she isn’t frightened off by the concept, he could do the ‘real’ big deal proposal later… somewhere special…. maybe behind the showers??

Wow, Mr Romance!

Now that’s my kind of proposal, lol!

Hey, he said love and married in the same sentence, give him credit for progress!

I’d guess this just about evenly divides the men and women over ideas of marriage and proposals. The women think it has to be "romantic " and “Special” while the men think anyone rejecting a good match because they failed to play a silly (and unspecified), game of Victorian manners is a fool.

He is NOT proposing. There are no questions marks in his balloons.

He is raising the subject for discussion. I don’t believe a life long commitment should ever come as a surprise.

I think he’s floating the idea to see how she reacts. If she blows it off, he can retreat. If she likes it, he can get more flowery.

somebodyshort said: Just because a ship stops at the pier doesn’t mean we have to get on board. Wait, that didn’t come out very well.

Oh I don’t know. It sure made me laugh! :-D

You know, from a practical point of view, if they were married, it might be easier getting into foreign countries, etc.

But she’s going to go back to be with her family, I bet.

Now is a good time to learn whether their levels of commitment are the same. It’s one thing to periodically pitch in on Habitat for Humanity home projects, and another thing entirely to devote YEARS to humanitarian work in other countries. I suspect Evie and her beau may not be on the same page.

reminds me of how my DH proposed to me. :D 10 years later, still very much in love. I say, Go for it Evie

Stunned is more like it. I think Dry is right. Too bad, though.

How old is granny again?

no one is surprised at the proposal. just the way it came. would it make her happy? or would she miss her girls to much to be happy ealy married?

Well said, Debbie. I think we’ve taken this family as our own.

I think that if that is how he talks, Evie must be used to it by now. I think she’s just taken aback that he wants to marry her. She a pretty independent woman too.

That’s a compliment,Evie!

My husband proposed to me when I wasn’t looking directly at him at the time. It was in response to a statement I had just made. He’d planned to do it differently, but the opportunity hadn’t presented itself. How it’s done doesn’t matter. The love is what counts. Oh, and we toasted our engagement with grape Gatorade.

Oh come on! Like Evie didn’t see this coming?

Marriage proposals can take some strange forms. My exact words to my wife to be were, “You don’t want to marry me, I hang my socks on the lamp shade”. It took her a few minutes to figure it out, but there was no hesitation in the yes. And we have been married 36 years now.

I don’t think Evie is offended… I think it’s more of an “umm, EXCUSE ME??” kind of look. But if that is his idea of a proposal, I have to agree; she deserves a little romance!

Fun comments, and being of Edie’s age or more, I think marriage may be a logistical thing for Habitat’s rules and international “accomodations”. If they were not traveling, that’s a total waste at our age, but love is eternal.

Was that his proposal?? Where are the candles and flowers?

Run Gramma run!