Angels in My Hair (12 page)

We also decided that, even though we weren't planning to
get married for a year or so, we would start to look for a place
to live.

As we pulled up outside my house, the hall door was open.
Da came out and gave us a wave, before going back into the
house and leaving the door open. That made Joe feel a little
better, a bit more welcome. We went straight through to the
kitchen. Mum was there. Joe greeted her and I started to make
tea.

'What's up?' Mum asked.

'Joe wants to talk to Da,' I replied.

'I've been waiting for this day,' my mother said with a look
on her face, it was clear she disapproved.

'Your Da is in the dining room, reading the paper.' She said
rather dismissively, 'I'll tell him Joe wants to see him.'

Mum went into the dining room and closed the door behind
her. This made Joe much more nervous. 'Why can't this be
simple?' he said.

Mum was back in a minute or so and told Joe that he could
go and talk to Da. Mum stayed in the kitchen with me while I
was making the tea and buttering some bread and jam. She
didn't say a word. Then she left the kitchen and went into the
dining room.

About five minutes later, when I had the tray ready, I carried
it into the dining room. I felt Joe needed support, so I didn't
wait for him to come out, and anyway I was dying to know my
father's response.

As I opened the door to the dining room I could see Da and
Joe were sitting together on the sofa, and Mum was standing
nearby. She hadn't sat down. I smiled when I saw Joe and Da
together, they both looked very happy. Da was all smiles; he
got up from the sofa and gave me a big hug and congratulated
me. I was no longer worried, I was so happy. Even my mother's
reaction didn't have the power to detract from the moment.

Da was thrilled that I was getting married, and to a nice
reliable man. In some ways he was probably relieved that now
he wouldn't be responsible for me, and I felt Mum was relieved
too, even if she had difficulties showing it. At some stage that
evening Da said, 'I never thought I'd live to see this day.'

Even though I was now engaged to get married, I know that
they were still apprehensive, because of the way they looked at
me. Da started to ask Joe and I lots of questions about our
plans. Mum, who had said nothing until then, asked if we had
a date in mind for the wedding and we both replied, 'No'
together.

'Maybe August next year,' Joe suggested.

'We'll have the wedding reception in the house,' Mum said.

I didn't say a word; I was horrified at the suggestion. Da said,
'We can talk about it all later.'

But that never happened. We finished tea, Joe said goodbye
to Da and Mum and we walked out to the car. Joe said, 'Don't
be worried – if you don't want the reception in the house, we
can find a hotel.'

That weekend Joe and I went looking at engagement rings,
but I saw nothing that I liked in any of the jewellers. I told Joe,
'I would really like something different. All the engagement
rings look more or less the same, no matter which jewellers you
go to. I am willing to wait until I find the ring I really want.'

'Are you sure?' he asked.

About six weeks later, I was working late one evening and
not expecting to meet Joe as he was meant to be doing
stocktaking at the garage. I was going to catch the eight o'clock
bus home, but I got a great surprise to see Joe standing by the
car in the car park when I went out.

'Come on, let's go for an ice cream,' he said.

'You're in a wonderful humour,' I said to him. 'I'm still in my
uniform, how can I go for an ice cream?'

'That doesn't matter.' Joe said, 'You look beautiful to me.
Now let's go and get that ice cream.'

We walked hand-in-hand to the ice cream parlour and sat
facing each other in one of our favourite seats. I ordered a
banana split and Joe ordered a sundae. Halfway through
eating, Joe reached into his jacket breast pocket, saying, 'I have
a big surprise for you.' He took out a little box and opened it.
I couldn't believe it! There was a fabulous engagement ring
shaped like a rose with petals in gold and a diamond set in the
centre. It was so different to all the other rings I had seen. Joe
held my hand and, slipping the ring on to my finger, said, 'I
love you. I want to marry you and grow old with you.'

Hearing these words from Joe filled my eyes with tears. I was
happy and yet I remembered what Angel Elijah had said to me
all those years ago. That we would marry, Joe would become
ill, I would have to look after him, and that we would never
grow old together.

'Don't cry,' Joe said as he kissed my hand. I looked into his
eyes and saw his happiness and forgot about the future. I
leaned across the table and gave Joe a big kiss and asked him
where he found the ring.

'You wouldn't believe it,' he said, 'in the garage! We were
very busy and I went outside to help at the petrol pumps just
as a car pulled in with a puncture. I changed the wheel for him
and brought the wheel around to the back to be repaired. As I
was standing by his car, telling him the wheel would be ready
in twenty minutes, I noticed the backseat of his car was
covered with cases like little cabinets.'

Joe had asked him about the strange-looking cases and the
man told him he was a jeweller. Joe continued, 'I told the man
I was looking for an engagement ring, but something completely
different. The man said he had a small box with new
designs of different kinds – some were rings. He opened the
box and I saw this ring and I immediately knew it was perfect
for you. I asked him if he would sell me the ring and he said he
would have to check with his boss. We went into the office to
phone him, and when we were there I showed your Da the
ring. Your Da said I had done well and that this ring would
make you happy, that it was a lovely ring. The man came off
the phone and told me I could buy it.'

I gave Joe a big smile. 'I don't want you to tell me how much
it cost. I don't want to know that. Thank you for finding this
beautiful engagement ring for me.'

I was thrilled; I was walking on air as we walked back to the
car park. 'I'm dying to show my ring to Mum and my sisters
and brothers,' I said. I don't remember the journey home, but
I do remember walking in the back door into the kitchen with
Joe right behind me. The kitchen was empty and I opened the
door into the dining room. Da said, 'What took you so long to
get home?'

'Well! I needn't show you my engagement ring, seeing as
you have seen it already,' I said. Da laughed and came over to
me and gave me a big hug. I showed Mum my ring and told her
to make a wish. Mum gave me a hug too and said, 'It's very
dainty.'

Joe had a cup of tea before heading home and I said, 'Don't
tell your Mum about our engagement until after work
tomorrow. We'll go to your house together, as usual, for
dinner and then surprise her. Let's see if she notices the ring
on my finger.'

The next day, that is exactly what we did.We were sitting at
the table and as Joe's mum was putting my dinner in front of
me, she let out a scream, saying, 'Lorna, you have an
engagement ring on! Stand up so I can hug my future
daughter-in-law.' Joe's mum always made me feel so welcome.

I was fascinated, because within what seemed like only
minutes, the members of Joe's family who lived close by
started to call to the house to congratulate us. Within about an
hour, family that lived further a field also started arriving. I
was being fussed over – something that rarely happened to me.
I loved the excitement.

At about eleven o'clock I told Joe he had better drive me
home because I had work in the morning. I said goodbye to
Joe's mum and she gave me a big hug. I could feel the
happiness and joy in her. She was more at peace within herself
now that she could see her dream coming true – her youngest
son was engaged. Her hug was so tight I could feel and see her
guardian angel hugging me too. Joe's mum stood at the hall
door waving to us as we drove away. I could see her guardian
angel standing in the doorway waving and gleaming with light.

As Joe drove up the road, I turned more in the car seat, not
wanting to lose sight of Joe's mum and her angel. Actually, all
I could see was the light of the angel. Joe laughed at me, 'What
are you trying to do? Turn the seat around altogether?'

'I am just trying to see your mum waving to us for as long as
I can,' I replied.

As we drove on Joe said, 'You're a bit quiet.'

'I'm just thinking about tomorrow,' I said, 'about going into
work with my engagement ring. If the excitement is anything
like what it was in your mum's house, I think I shall be
embarrassed. I feel very shy and nervous about it, but on the
other hand I can't wait to show the girls my ring.'

I was home in no time. Just as I was about to get out of the
car, Joe said, 'Get back here and give me a kiss. Enjoy work
tomorrow, showing all the girls your ring. I'll see you after
work.' We said goodbye. I went in to the house. It was in
darkness. I crept slowly up to my room, not making a sound,
and got into bed. I didn't sleep well that night; I was too
excited. I thought the morning would never come, but it did.

I got up a bit earlier in order to catch an earlier bus to work;
hoping to arrive before the other girls from my department and
hoping that Valerie might be there so I could share my
excitement with her and show her the ring. But I was very shy.
As I reached the back entrance of the department store, I took
a deep breath and went in.

I went down the stairs to the cloakroom and clocked in for
work. The cloakroom was a square shape with lockers all
around the walls and a set of lockers dividing the room. I
walked around the lockers and there was Valerie. As soon as
she saw me, she jumped up from the seat and said, 'I know by
the look on your face. Let me see your engagement ring.'

'I told you I would keep my promise,' I said to her, 'just as
you kept yours. You can have the first wish.'

Valerie took the ring off my finger gently, put it on her own
and started to turn the ring towards her three times with her
eyes closed and her lips moving silently. I could see her angel
clearly, but only part of mine because my guardian angel was
behind me. Then, as I looked up, I saw both angels' heads
touch and, as I looked down, their feet touched and the angels
started to wrap around each other. My guardian angel's wings
seemed to stretch out to Valerie's angel's wings and they
started to intertwine to make an oval shape. The floor beneath
us disappeared. I watched Valerie as she opened her eyes. I
could feel a wonderful peace and tranquillity; I wondered if
she felt anything of it. She took a deep breath and gave me a
wonderful smile saying, 'Thanks, Lorna.'

More girls came in and I was surrounded by people
congratulating me and stretching out their hands to see the
ring and make wishes. Pauline, in particular, was thrilled; she
was very romantic and adored a good love story. She had only
met Joe briefly, but she thought he was very handsome and she
was very happy for me.

All the attention was very exciting. I asked the angels to
grant as many wishes as possible, especially for my friends,
because I knew they had many wishes – not just for themselves,
but for their families and friends.

The supervisor walked into the cloakroom and said, 'What's
all this excitement? Let me have a look.'

As she made her way through the girls who were still
wishing on the ring, she asked, 'Who's engaged?'

'Lorna,' everyone answered her at the same time.

'I'm next to make a wish, girls,' she said. She took the ring
from another girl, ignoring the others who were waiting and
slipped it onto her finger and made a wish.

'Congratulations, Lorna. All you girls – off to the shop floor.'

They teased her back and she started to laugh. 'Lorna, it's a
beautiful ring,' she said to me, 'tell me his name.'

'Joe,' I said.

'I wish you and Joe all the happiness in the world. When is
the big day?'

'We are planning August of next year, maybe; we have not
quite made up our minds,' I answered.

'My advice is, don't make it a rushed decision,' the supervisor
said, 'Give yourselves plenty of time. Now, we'd better
get back to work.'

Later that day when I was in the canteen queuing for tea, the
girls behind the counter said, 'Lorna, we heard you were
engaged. Congratulations.'

The canteen supervisor commented that everyone would be
over at my table during the break to have a look at my ring and
to make a wish. That's what it was like for the next week or so.
I was so happy that everyone was happy for me and Joe: even
the security guard in the car park congratulated Joe when he
came to pick me up after work that day.

For the first time in my life I felt I was the centre of
attention. But Mum and Da never sat down with Joe and me to
talk about wedding plans. In fact, my family didn't seem to
show a great interest in my wedding at all.

After talking with Joe, I decided to ask Pauline, my friend at
work, to be my bridesmaid. I knew she would be thrilled and
would be a great support to me on the day. She was a little like
me, very quiet; whereas the other girls in the fashion
department frequently went to the pub together after work, it
didn't really interest Pauline or me.

The next day I told Mum I wanted Pauline as my
bridesmaid, even though I had not asked her yet.Mum seemed
surprised and suggested that my brother Barry should be the
best man. That evening Joe and I talked about our wedding.
Joe knew I was unhappy about it; he wanted to have words
with Mum and Da but I said, 'No, I don't want our wedding to
cost my parents much money, if possible.' And we were saving
hard for a home so we didn't want to spend much money
ourselves.