So, did I tell my parents?
Yes. Yes, I did tell them. I wasn't exactly looking foward to telling them about my engagement, but I knew I had to tell them at some point. Prior to my telling them my news, I managed to chew off almost all of my nails. Yeah, I was that nervous.
It took me almost two days to figure out a way to tell them, and when I couldn't think of anything better, I just threw it out there for them. I ended up calling the house on my way home from work to see if my parents wanted to grab something to eat with Steph and I. They had already eaten, which lead to a huge fiasco between my parents and Steph, so I just told them I wanted to talk to them about something so I would stop by the house.
When I got to the house, my parents were sitting in the basement watching tv, so I had to ask them if they had a moment so I could talk to them. My dad couldn't bother to turn off the tv, only muted it for a few brief moments. Once I had their almost undivided attention, I threw out my hand, showed them the ring, and said "I'm engaged." Yeah...I didn't say I thought of a good way to tell them, but I thought I'd go with the band-aid method on this one. You know, where you have a band-aid plastered to your skin and hair, and trying to peel it off slowly only porlongs the pain, so you just rip it off in one motion.
So I threw it out there for them.
They sat there for a few seconds with confused looks on their faces. The confused looks were then followed by a series of questions, including "Are you sure?" "Did you really think this over?" "Is this what you want?" "Will this really make you happy?" Stuff like that. Since I've filled my mom in a little bit about what has been going on between Tom and I, I had to reassure her that I asked Tom my own questions to be sure that he meant what he said and that he knew what had to be done in the relationship. My dad, on the other hand, couldn't say two words. He just sort of sat there, glancing between the tv and the ring on my hand. I can't tell how he feels about it...if he's pissed, happy, indifferent, annoyed that I interrupted his tv time. Who knows.
And that is exactly why I was dreading telling my parents. After living with them for 23 years, you know what their reactions are going to be to certain things...and while I wasn't quite sure what their exact reactions were going to be, I did know for certain that they would not be positive reactions. My parents are rather negative people and tend to react negatively to things first. Eventually, once they work out their negative feelings towards a particular thing, they can start developing semi-positive feelings about the whole thing. Who knows how long it will take them to get used to this whole idea....
And that was just my parents, too. I still have to tell my aunt and my grandma. My grandma is the hardest one to read out of my entire family. I have no idea how she's going to react to this one. I have a feeling that part of her is going to be disappointed because I'm not marrying someone successful (wealthy to her standards) and because I'm getting engaged before I'm 30 years old and entirely independent and self-supporting. My family always told me I couldn't get married until I had graduated from college, got a stable, successful job, had enough money to support myself for a few years, blah blah blah. While I have graduated from college and have managed to support myself for a few months, I can't say I have a decent job that will support me for the rest of my life. They've always wanted me to be prepared just in case something happens, just like my grandma becoming a widow at such an early age.
Anyways, I'm rambling a bit here. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to break the news to my grandma. She's always looked out for me, I hope she approves of this. I've always hated doing something she disapproved. Hopefully if she likes Tom enough, she'll help me pay for the wedding...I can't see my parents forking anything over any time soon.
But, at least I've had the guts so far to tell everyone in person. No emails involved.... sorry, Tom. ;0)