I got engaged one very snowy night in 2001. Actually, it was the last night of 2001. We had planned it for weeks in advance. And we already had the rings and everything.
Everything was set actually. We were going to get engaged New Year's Eve. Outside the local church in the center of town. It's a cliche.
Truly, I know it's such a cliche. But it was what we had planned and it's what we chose to do. Today that morning, I remember it started to snow. But in Norway, it always snowed in December.
It's normal. Well, it used to be normal. Nowadays, nothing is normal when it comes to the weather. But in 2001, December, especially in the Christmas of New Year's, yeah, we expect snow.
Big, fat, heavy snowflakes came falling down that morning. And we couldn't even see the house of our neighbors. It was like a white wall. Being that quiet on the loudest day of the year.
I remember I felt it's like magic in a way. I'd give someone put a blanket, a heavy white blanket, and cover the outside world with it. As the day passed, I remember the snow became even more heavy. And we couldn't see anything outside.
We went for our New Year's Eve dinner at some friend's house. And after that, we put our black coats on and got ready to hide outside. And we didn't tell anyone that we were going to get engaged. We just excused ourselves and said we wanted to go outside for the midnight.
For some reason, we didn't take the car that evening. Usually we drove, but we had decided to walk. And it was so strange. We walked in the middle of the street.
There was no people, no cars, no noises. It was the strangest thing. I mean, it was so quiet. This town, usually it's quiet quiet.
Actually, it's a small town. But New Year's Eve is never quiet. That New Year's Eve, it was more quiet than the quietest day the rest of the year. It was extremely quiet.
It was almost ridiculous. At midnight, we got engaged, surrounded by snowflakes, standing in heavy snow, looking into each other's eyes. And we did not even see or hear any New Year's Eve fireworks that evening. It was so weird.
We then decided to walk to my mother's house just to tell her the news. And just to say hello. I usually contact my mother around New Year's just to say Happy New Year. When she saw us, she thought to herself that we look like two snowmen walking down the street because our black coats were covered in heavy snow and so was our heads, actually.
It must have been quite a sight where we came in the middle of the road, walking to her house. She met us outside. She was outside to see the fireworks, but of course, she couldn't see anything because of the heavy snow. And it almost was like a layer of smog or fog because the sky felt like it was straight above our heads and then there was this white in the air and it covered everything.
There is a reason why this story is more about the snow than the engagement, actually. But I think that's a whole lot of story. Let's just put it this way that the engagement didn't last. I'm no longer with that man.
But this memory for me is so strong. I was young and in love, but the biggest thing was the snow.