The Story of Terry's Proposal

Okay. So. It goes like this...

I had the whole thing worked out in my head. I was going to get home from work at around 4 p.m. on the afternoon in question. So I made sure that Lindsey knew that, and that I wanted us to do something fun and exciting, as it’s a rare thing that I get a Friday night off from my weekend job as a valet parker.

Well, I was on time. Lindsey wasn’t.

At around 6:45 she waltzed in the door with shopping bags from the local market ... and Saks Fifth Avenue. She was very excited about a new shirt that she’d bought for entirely too much money (a little black short-sleeved thing with a hood and an extre-e-e-emely low neckline), and she immediately modeled it for me right there in the hallway.

When I asked her what was in the other bags, she replied, "Dinner."

So much for the romantic dinner at the fine dining restaurant of our choice, I thought. And then I thought some more. Hmmm. Chicken thighs? Chickpeas? Tomatoes? Pita bread? A spice rub made up of cinnamon, curry, cumin and cayenne pepper? And she even bought a bottle of wine!? (Lindsey doesn’t drink. Later, I learned it was for the sauce. But that didn’t stop me from drinking what she didn’t use.)

This was more than your typical throw-together spaghetti night. Clearly. So I said to myself, "Okay. This’ll work."

So after helping her with dinner and setting the table and lighting candles and rigging the laptop to the stereo for a random mix of music, and after being extremely lovey-dovey throughout the course of the meal, and after being totally smitten by the way she looked in that new shirt, I very intircately weaved a series of compliments into a tapestry of reasons why she is the perfect, only woman for me. Then, while kissing her left hand, I deftly slipped the ring into view right over her ring finger. She took one look at it and froze.

"What’s that?" she asked me, terrified.

I didn’t expect that.

"Do I really need to give it a caption?" I replied. Then I slipped off my chair and onto one knee.

After the question, there were tears, and hugs, and kisses, and much laughter. And after several minutes of this I had to say, "Baby, umm, you still haven’t answered." And there was more laughter and hugging, and she replied, "Yes, I’ll marry you, baby."

You guys can figure out the rest...I’ve gotta go to work now and pay for that sucker.