Terry had been with his girlfriend Anna almost a year when he decided he’d make her something unique.
Despite no wood carving experience, Terry crafted Anna a necklace using a ground down spiral shell and some Huon Pine, a tree native to the rainforests of Tasmania.
That’s a thoughtful gift by any stretch of the imagination, but it
would be a year and a half before Anna discovered just how special it was…
For one and a half years Anna wore the necklace, unaware of what it really
meant. Then, on a trip to Scotland, Terry revealed the truth – it contained an
engagement ring.
“I had always loved the idea of giving someone a gift where they didn’t know its true value until years later,” said Terry.
“I decided I wanted to ask my girlfriend to marry me, but I wanted to do something unique. I also wanted to start doing wood carving and I had this idea for the necklace, so I decided I would give it a go. I found the ring I knew suited her and started working on it.
“I gave the necklace to her on our one-year anniversary and she absolutely loved it.
“She wore it every day and everywhere we went, and pretty much never took it off.”
Despite the necklace’s clear success Terry said there were a few times he
worried the game would be up early – including one instance where she nearly traded the necklace with a blacksmith at a market.
“The blacksmith loved the necklace, and she loved the blacksmith’s work, but
luckily I didn’t need to crash tackle her,” said Terry. “My biggest moment of
panic was when we went through airport security the first time. I hadn’t thought about the fact that she might be asked to put it through the X-ray, which could have very quickly turned into an airport security proposal!”
Deciding how and where to make the proposal was important for Terry too.
The couple had Smoo Cave on the north coast of Scotland on their bucket list since they first met and this would be the destination – Smoo means “hiding place” in old Norse, something Terry thinks he should get “extra points” for.
Terry said he asked to borrow the necklace so he could take some photos of it
among the rocks there – where he secretly broke the necklace’s seal with a knife before the couple headed to the cave…
“I set up my camera on a timer and ran into the frame for the nice photo of the two of us, then said ‘oh, I’d better give you the necklace back’, pulled it from my pocket, knelt, and broke it open to reveal the ring inside,” said Terry.
“She stood there dazed for a second, trying to work out what was going on, and then it dawned and she said ‘yes’ with all the excitement in the world!”
The proposal wasn’t all puppies and sugar of course – as Anna quickly pointed out something we’re sure you’ve all been thinking.
“Wait… it’s been in there the entire time?” she said. “I could have lost it you
idiot!”
Terry didn’t take that to heart though of course, describing his new wife-to-be as “a hilarious mix of happy and angry”. As for what’s changed since the
experience besides the couple’s engagement, well, Terry’s woodwork has
continued…
“Since making the necklace, my wood-working has been getting bigger and better, but the problem I have now is that anything else I give her, she now inspects to see if there could be something hidden inside it.”