At Christmas in 2024, we went together to visit the places where the Czech Salesian Father Med worked.

First, we visited the Kaziranga National Park, where we also had the opportunity to see rhinos. We celebrated Christmas Eve at the Salesian novitiate in Zubza. Ivan kept asking me when we would give each other gifts under the Christmas tree.

On Christmas Eve, we were at the provincial house in Dimapur, where Ivan gave me the gift. Since we had little time, I only opened the gift briefly in my room and did not attach much importance to the gift. In the meantime, Ivan and the fathers had agreed that the engagement would take place at a spiritual center near Lake Umiam, where we celebrated the arrival of the new year and after midnight adoration, the fathers asked Ivan if he had the engagement gift with him.

Unfortunately, he stayed in Schillong, where we were returning, and I packed things for a few days, so I did not pack the Christmas gift.

Our originally traditional engagement – finding a gift under the tree, went very unconventionally, with a question after midnight adoration: “Ivan, do you have a gift with you?”
Because I don’t wear rings much, Ivan bought me a gold bar as an engagement gift, like investment gold, and instead of asking “Will you marry me?” he wrote a whole poem that my romantic soul couldn’t decipher.

Despite Ivan’s, fathers’ and Google Translator’s great efforts to make everything go smoothly, they didn’t count on Stáňa not wrapping the gift and staying in Schilling.