Our Turbulent Engagement, Part 3

Wow, time has flown by and now there's less than a week. For anyone who might read this (all 3 of you), expect a blogging drought for a week beginning on the 16th. Here is the final portion of the Engagement series.

Part 1
Supplement I
Part 2
Supplemental II

So we waited. I held my ground and didn't give in. We still were planning on getting married in December. Considering how long we had been together before then, a 9 month engagement might've been a bit long. Right now it feels too long! But I purposefully chose a date "far" ahead so that my parents would have a good long chance to adjust to this idea.

Thank goodness for a certain elder and his wife in our church. I have the e-mail in my Gmail archives, dated April 4. It shows that I sent him a very distressed e-mail explaining our situation. I think I had just had the conversation with my mom, and needless to say, I was not very productive at work that day. We were able to hurriedly set up a get-together with them to get some comfort and advice. Now that I look back on it, we did not get much new advice from them, but it was IMMENSELY helpful to just be around an older and wiser couple and get comfort from them. Infinite thanks to L/E P.

I had that previous conversation in April, and my parents didn't try to contact me on phone for a while. Mostly what I remember is sparse talking with my mom over MSN. I do remember asking her if they were still going to come to my college graduation, since I still wanted to get married in December of that year. She responded by saying something like "No, you're not getting married in December. Forget that crazy talk." I still held my ground. It was during this time that I found a free MP3 of 4Him's rendition of "Be Thou My Vision," to which I listened incessantly during this period in my life. I thought that the unpleasant memories of this period would get imprinted with the song, but amazingly, I still feel great everytime I listen to that version.

Eventually May did roll around, and my family did come up for graduation. What follows was the biggest relief I've felt in a long time. The morning of graduation, my dad came over to my apartment. I don't remember why he originally said he was going to, but as it turns out, he came to talk to me about getting married in December. He asked me if I was still wanting to get married in December, and I said yes. To my extreme pleasant surprise, he then proceeded to tell me that he would support me in this! I don't remember everything that he said because I was just so high on relief. I remember him saying that he would deal with my mom, and that she would either come around, or be made to come around. Like I've said before, sometimes I am very glad that (most) decisions are final in my house when dad says so. In this case, VERY glad. Although the graduation ceremony was FOUR HOURS, I had no trouble sitting through the whole thing. Our families even sat together during the ceremony :D Afterwards, we all went out to dinner together, where my dad proceeded to clear the air and get the wedding conversation out in the open. Even at the table, my mom still (quietly) said to me in Korean that I should wait to get married, but I still did not budge, especially since I knew that my dad was on my side.

Up until graduation day, everything was an uphill battle. After graduation, everything felt like coasting, with a few (large) bumps here and there. Harmony and I both agree that we would much rather deal with wedding plan squabbles with both sets of parents than deal with pre-engagement issues with one set of parents.

So why have I told you all this? Maybe somewhere out there, there is another couple in a similar situation to us, desperately looking for any help they can get. Maybe they will go on Google or be looking through Christian blogs and find our's. If any of you that are reading this ever want to ask us for help, PLEASE do so. We might not be able to solve your problems, but perhaps we can at least sympathize, as war buddies usually can do. Back in That Horrible Month(tm) or April, we would've loved to have heard about an epic with a happy ending like this.