Woman unknowingly wears engagement ring for a year
INSIDE EDITION - A man waited an entire year to propose to his girlfriend -- while she unknowingly wore her engagement ring around her neck for the whole time.
Anna and Terry, of Australia, had been dating for nearly a year when Terry decided to gift her with a necklace, but what she didn't know was that another gift was hidden inside.
"I had always loved the idea of giving someone a gift where they didn't know its true value until years later," Terry said. "After my girlfriend and I had been together for eleven months I decided I wanted to ask her to marry me, but I wanted to do something unique."
Terry made the necklace himself out of Huon pine and carved a space inside that would perfectly fit the ring.
"She absolutely loved it. She wore it every day and everywhere we went, and pretty much never took it off," Terry said.
Terry, however, said there were some "close calls" where he thought he might be forced to propose early.
"At one point, I thought she was going to trade it with a blacksmith at a market but luckily I didn't need to crash tackle her," Terry said. "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."
But, finally more than a year after giving Anna the necklace, the pair took a vacation to Smoo Cave in Scotland and he was ready to reveal the secret.
"Before we actually went down to the cave, I asked if I could have the necklace to take some photos of it among the rocks, which gave me a quick chance to break the seal with a knife," Terry said.
Terry said he set up the timer on his camera and ran into the frame but then told Anna, "Oh, I'd better give you the necklace back."
"I pulled it from my pocket, knelt, and broke it open to reveal the ring inside," Terry said. "She stood there dazed for a second, trying to work out what was going on, and then it dawned on her and she said 'yes' with all the excitement in the world."
Anna later told Terry he was crazy and that she could've lost the necklace.
"She was quite a hilarious mix of happy and angry," Terry said.