Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As of the Saturday before Valentine’s Day, I found myself engaged to a rabbit, a squirrel, a pheasant, two red-tailed hawks, a coyote and a deer.

It was a peculiar predicament.

You see, I believe in the old adage, Practice makes the master, and I was practicing feverishly to say the marriage proposal I had written just right. Time was ticking down. I intended to propose at the stroke of midnight between Feb. 13 and Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day and Oregon’s 151st birthday.

Thirteen is the Wonder Woman’s favorite number. And she absolutely loves Oregon.

Only problem is, I’m not a speechifier. In fact, in high school I took radio broadcasting rather than public speaking so I could read a script behind a curtain rather than give speeches in front of a crowd.

So I got the idea to recite my nine-stanza proposal written by my own fair hand as I did training runs through the countryside on my bicycle.

Teri Durfee, you’re a character with character. You’re beautiful inside and out, and I love that about you. ...

And so on.

Practice makes the master is the German version of the English saying, Practice makes perfect. I don’t believe in perfect, although the Wonder Woman comes close.

We’d been dating for 16 months, had known each other through all four seasons, knew what we were getting into.

The time was right.

Since my wife, Tina, had died tragically at age 48 of complications of diabetes, in September 2007, I had worked feverishly to put my life back in order.

A briefly in Wednesday’s newspaper reminded me of how raw those memories are — and how far I’ve come. The Growing through Grief group meets each spring. The one I attended in spring 2008 was invaluable in my recovery.

I waited a little more than a year after Tina’s death to begin dating, and met Teri through Yahoo personals. A graphic designer by trade, Teri puts out an Oregon calendar each year.

You’re funny and intelligent. You make me laugh and think ... a lot ... and I love that about you.

As the clock ticked down toward midnight, I wondered just how I would pull off the proposal. Teri was watching the Winter Olympics. She had lived in Vancouver, B.C., for a year while working for an educational software company and loves all things Canadian almost as much as she loves Oregon.

Finally, between a luge run and ice skating, I got up my courage.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing, Helen Keller said. Let’s make life a daring adventure today, this week, this month, this year, for the rest of our lives. Teri Durfee, I love you. Will you marry me?

She said yes.

As for the rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, two red-tailed hawks, a coyote and a deer that also said yes, they’re on their own.

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