We met when our classrooms were across the hall from one another at Barre City School. After school one day, Ian invited Gretchen on a date to go night skiing at Bolton. We skied until the mountain stopped running the lifts, but still had so much to talk about so we decided to go out for drinks. After the bar closed, we still had so much to talk about, so we decided we would just have to see each other again. We never stopped seeing each other (or having things to talk about) after that!

The Saturday morning that the engagement ring arrived, Ian decided on the spot he was going to propose. He told Gretchen to stay in bed while he made her breakfast (not uncommon considering Gretchen can't cook), then surprised her with a gourmet spread and a bouquet of fresh flowers. In the flowers was a note asking a very important question. When Gretchen looked over at Ian in disbelief, there he was on one knee with the ring! Of course they celebrated by - you guessed it - skiing!

Ian gave Gretchen his mother, Barbara's, engagement ring with some meaningful, custom changes. The original ring was a gold band with a sapphire in the center and a smaller diamond on either side of the sapphire. The ring was changed to have a diamond in the middle with two smaller emeralds on either side of the diamond. The diamond in the ring is from a necklace previously owned by Ian's step mom, Danni. Emeralds were chosen because green is not only Gretchen's favorite color, it is also both Sherry (Gretchen's mother) and Ian's birthstone. Every engagement ring is special but few hold the significance and spirit of three mothers.