True Life: He Proposed…But I Said No - Page 7

Charlotte: Yes and I regretted it. He was a wonderful man but I was 18 and didnt want to be a military wife living overseas away from my family. Im married now (to a military man) and I have thought about him over the years.

Almond: I was engaged in 2005 at the age of 22 to a man 5 years older than me. Looking back, I was way too young to be married. I had landed a really good job, bought a brand new car and started traveling all over when I began dating my ex. He was a GREAT guy and I felt (and still feel) that he will be a great husband, father, provider but I was not ready. I started feeling smothered because I wanted to get out and explore the world- not be a wife and raise kids. I ended the engagement about a month after he proposed. I’ll never forget it. I told him, “you deserve to be with someone who loves and wants to be with you as much as you love and want to be with me… and that’s not me.” He was DEVASTATED. He cried and every time he saw me after that he would just look at me with the saddest look in his eyes- I saw him not too long ago… same look. He was married last year on the same day we were to be married in 2006. We speak whenever we see each other, at least 1-2 times a year at mutual friend’s events and everything is cool- we laugh and make small talk. But there is always the proverbial elephant in the room. That whole experience helped me SO much in later relationships. Sometimes people just are not ready. Timing can be everything.