For those of you who have been around for a while you may remember some things I have posted about my kids. 6 kids right now from 7 to 22. My oldest is currently serving in the Old Guard at Arlington till next year when he reports to the 101st Airborne, tentatively.
You may have picked up that we are "old Fashion" in some things. One of those is courting. While I will not get into the differences between, Dating, courting and arranged marriages, just be assured there are distinct differences. For my children, as long as they live under my roof, there will be no dating, and arranged marriages are a product of 3rd world crap holes or repressive religions. Courting is something I strongly believe in. As long as administered correctly.
Anyways. This young man has been a part of our lives for well over 15 years. He is a couple of years older than my daughter. He is my pastors 2nd son. We homeschool as does most of the families in our church, so "school" trips and activities often revolve around all the kids in the church outside of church services. And in my church, there are a lot of Kids. With 6 we are actually at the low end of the scale.
So they grew up together. I have always "brainwashed" my daughters to understand that no young man, EVER, is good enough for them. I am a father with 3 daughters. I "hate" any male under the age of 26, and a lot over that age.
I would reinforce this by occasionally asking my daughters " Is there any young man good enough" There trained response was always to be "no sir".Well one day about 2 1/2 years or so ago, we were coming home from church one night and I asked that question. My oldest daughter, at the time she was 18/19 responded " well dad, there is one"
She did not even have to tell me who. I already knew. He had always impressed me. He is Autistic, and to some he would come across as a bit slow. But as you get to know him, he chooses his words, most of the time very carefully. He Loves the Lord, which is extremely important to us. He fought against conventional wisdom and earned a full time job, pays his own bills and earned a lot of credentials for HVAC and other certifications to be able to work high end apartment maintenance. Which is kind of funny because one of the parts of his job is to maintain the huge pool that the company I work for built and I did the install for all the equipment.
Also, he is very respectful to his mother. And one thing I have noticed, is a good way to get a feel for how a young man will treat a woman is to see how he treats his mother. Not a 100% assessment, but usually a good indicator.
Back to my story. After a conversation with her and my wife. Who by the way had been talking for over a year about all this, and dumb me was oblivious.
I went to his father and had a conversation. He was a bit unsure, because of an issue that had arisen with another girl and her family, and did not want his son hurt. So we let this sit for a while. My daughter is very quick witted, and I think he was concerned that there personalities may conflict. After a year, my daughter was even more determined that he was her man. So I went again to his father and we talked for a long time about a lot of things. Then both me and my wife and him and his wife sat down and talked for a long time. They presented the possibility of my Daughter to him and I was told he responded something to the effect of "I did not think that she was even an option!!" with a beaming face and a huge grin. 
The next day he came to me and asked if he could start courting her. I of course gave permission and it has been great. there were a few bumps here and there, but it has been great. Well last month he closed on a repossessed huge house that is bigger than mine
Last Sunday after church services, he wanted to talk to me. I of course this time was not oblivious. So after making sure my daughter was working with some of the other young ladies practicing a new song. We went outside and talked. He asked permission for her hand in marriage and I gave it eagerly.
He had some things going on at the new house yesterday and thru some very careful timing and me doing all I can to make sure I did not let it out of the bag. Both families were there. He started giving an "impromptu" speech thanking everyone who had helped get the house back into living conditions, then he turned to my daughter and took a knee and asked her if she would marry him and make this house their home. She of course said yes.
It was AWESOME! Which is so weird for me to say. I honestly have so many mixed emotions. He had gone out and did not just pick a ring. He worked with the jeweler in designing the setting.
Now I got to help plan a wedding. I pray my involvement is limited to walking her down the aisle with my suppressed 300blk SBR slung and my .45 on my hip.
