Shell we get married?

by Edward Lincoln
(Southern New Jersey)

The "Shell we get married?" shell.

I had made this plan up days in advance so I had already gathered quite a few large white clam shells and kept them in the trunk of my car. Over the course of a few days, they dried out real nice and got even more white.

Then the day came to make my proposal. It was a beautiful day to go for a long walk on the beach. As my fiancee got our of the car, I went into my trunk with a Sharpie and selected a few of the shells. On one special one I wrote the words "Will you marry me?" on it and slipped it and other plain shells into my coat pocket.

As we entered the beach, we walked along and I reached down and acted like I picked up a shell. It was one of the plain ones. I showed it to my fiancee and then flipped it back onto the sand as she seemed very dis-interested in seeing a plain white clam shell. I duplicated this act about 3-4 times, totally boring her and then grabbed the special shell I wrote my proposal on.

I then pulled the engagement ring out and placed it inside the shell. When I showed her this shell- it had a little surprise waiting inside and not one to be flipped back into the sand. As I extended it out in my hand, I lowered myself to one knee in the sand and asked her to marry me.
She said "Yes" and I was filled with joy!

Its a story I remember well and "shell" always recall that day with alot of love and happiness.
-Edward
@yahoo.com