We’re Engaged!

 

I leaned my face against the window watching the marsh fields wind their way into the distance. His fingers laced in mine, I felt myself falling asleep in the back seat of the rental car. Nick smiling and looking out the window, it was a beautiful day to drive to Sarasota, Florida.

We had just celebrated New Year’s Eve with my grandparents in Vero and were extending our Florida trip a for few more days. Toasting to 2020 with champagne, not knowing how significant this year would be for us.

Our little road trip brought us to a beachy Airbnb on the ocean with manatee wallpaper greeting us hello. Both sets of parents arrived with a big secret packed in their suitcases and grins from ear to ear.

Aloof as the kids chasing kites along beach, I thought the plan was to have dinner for six. But it wasn’t long before Nick scooped me up in the rental car then backed up over a few orange traffic cones while trying to hide the GPS guiding him to the biggest night of his life.

In my head, I was just singing along to the radio thinking he was taking me to pick up groceries to stock up the Airbnb for the trip. But farther and father we drove until we pulled up to this giant seaside resort hotel.

His hand guided me through the Ritz Carlton Beach Club as we followed the soft strum of an acoustic guitar to our table. The sun was winking in the horizon and stayed awake just long enough to see me cry into Nick’s arms.

He had planned a private dinner for two by the ocean. A stunning bouquet of hydrangeas and roses was the only thing I would allow between us this evening, as I couldn’t let go of his hand. I cried through the appetizers, the lobster mac & cheese, and even dessert.

We spent the night laughing and looking back on our life together so far. How unlikely it was that we were to meet in New York City after we both had basically given up. Saying “yes” to being set up was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. And look where it brought us…to a romantic candlelit dinner by the sea with an acoustic guitarist strumming love songs. I never wanted that night to end.

Then he asked me to dance. You better believe I started crying all over again. I swayed in his arms to, “And then she asks me, do I look all right? And I say, yes, you look wonderful tonight.” And before I knew it he was asking me if I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I felt my heart answer for me, no doubt in my mind, “yes!”

Then he says, “but before we live happily ever after we need to have kids first…

and before we have kids we need to get married…

and before we get married we need to get engaged.”

Before I knew it he was down on one knee. All I remember is holding my hands on his mush of a face feeling like my heart was going to explode with happiness.

I love this man more than anything in the world and I can’t believe I’m the lucky girl that he asked to marry. Even writing these words I’m still in awe of that moment.

Then both Nick’s parents and mine came in from around the corner with champagne and the biggest hugs in the world! That was the icing on the cake for this already perfect evening, because we all celebrated together in the suite Nick arranged.

Hundreds of rose petals strewn around the room, but the best part was that the people who shaped us got to be a part of our engagement. For me, time stopped in that room. I’ve taken a mental picture of that night and I look back on it every now & then.

And now – we’re engaged!