It was a Friday morning in December, about three weeks before Christmas, 2001, when I received a call from Allan.  It is not unusual for Allan to call me shortly after he's left for work, and I have come to not wonder or ask why he doesn't tell me these things before he walks out the door.  Anyhow, only a few minutes down the road he'll dial his cell ...
"I just remembered it's garbage day and I forgot to take it down the hill" or "I just remembered I've got tennis tonight and I'll be late for supper" or "I forgot to tell you I'm going hunting next weekend and it's not on the calendar."
But his call this particular December morning was not usual, and I knew it immediately.  He was emotional.  He was not on the road but already at his office in Wayzata.  When I heard his voice cracking, all of time stood still for me and I sort of froze.  Surely, nobody I loved was maimed or dying.
"Allan, tell me!  What's the matter!  Allan, tell me!"
"I just received a call from Chris," he stumbled.
"Chris who?!" I demanded.
"Chris Norgaard," he replied, choking up again. 
I forgave myself for not thinking of this young lad right away.  Chris had not been in our life very long, and why would Jenny's boyfriend be calling Allan at work anyway.  Visions of our daughter in a ditch, in a hospital, in a morgue were deleted as soon as they surfaced on the screen of my otherwise clear morning monitor.  I walked to the window and looked way up into the sky, through the naked tree branches, and clung onto the moment as though there would never again be one as precious.  I wanted to remember the day vividly, when all was well with my world.
"Tell me, Allan, why did Chris call?  What's the matter anyway?"
I could taste and feel Allan's tears as though they were my own.  Then he spoke haltingly through them.  "Chris asked for my blessing to marry Jenny.  He said she has good values and we did a good job raising her.  He said that he was in love with our daughter and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her."
Time stood still again.  I took a deep breath and then let it out slowly.  "Oh, how nice," I said.  "How thoughtful.  What a gentleman.  I didn't know guys still did those kinds of things.  What did you say to him?"
"I said, 'Yes.'"
I waited to hear more details, more of anything.  But it was typical Allan on the line.  Typical man of few words. 
Then he finally added, "But we're not supposed to tell Jenny.  He's presenting her with the ring tonight.  They're exchanging Christmas ornaments."
"I won't say a word," I promised.  "Now blow your nose and get back to work."  I kept perfect composure, until we hung up, then I ran down to my own office and cried.  Sentimental fools, you say?  Yes, we are.  Maybe you are, too.
That night, from what we've been told, Christopher got down on bended knee, asked for Jenny's hand in marriage, took the glittering diamond ring that was dangling from his glittering snowflake ornament, and put it on her finger.
Allan and Sue Orsen of Victoria, MN, announce the forthcoming marriage of their daughter Jennifer Lee to Christopher Thor Norgaard, son of Vance and Jean Norgaard of Northfield, MN, and Keith and Linda Barcus of Bemidji, MN.
Jenny is a 1989 graduate of Chaska High School.  She received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Carleton College in 1993 and a Masters of Business Administration in 1999 from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.  Jenny is the CEO of Orsen Information Systems, Inc., and spends most of her time at General Mills and 3M.
Chris is a 1990 graduate of New Prague High School and a 1995 graduate of Mankato State University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management with a concentration in Aviation Management.  He is employed as an Estimator and Project Manager for Enebak Construction Company in Northfield.
The couple will be united in marriage at the 2:30 p.m. Mass at St. Victoria Catholic Church in Victoria on March 23rd, 2002.  Reception, dinner, and dance will follow at the Waconia Lakeside Ballroom.  After a honeymoon cruise on the Caribbean, Jenny and Chris will reside in rural Northfield -- which is not too far from Victoria.
It's a new chapter in our life, in Jenny's life, in Chris' life.  Wedding plans seem to be falling in place without a hitch.  Time is flying for me, but it seems to stand still for them as they anticipate the day they will become husband and wife.
Meanwhile, Allan continues to call me on his cell, only minutes after he's walked out of the house and driven down the street.  "I just remembered I've got a city council meeting tonight and won't be home for supper" ... "I just remembered I left an important phone number on the dresser upstairs.  Would you get it for me?" ... "Do you think I should I bring home something special for dinner tonight ... with a bottle of merlot?"
Yes, dear.  I do.
--Sue