 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Our Engagement Ladies, break out your tissue boxes. Gentlemen, get ready to make fun of Jason, who proposed to Donna on the evening of October 29, 2002 in Nassau, Bahamas over a candlelight desert of Beringer's Chardonnay and Junior's Cheesecake. Sounds appetizing, eh? Well, feast your eyes on both his and her versions of the glorious night. |
|
|
He Says... |
She Says... |
|
For me, our engagement started many months before October. I played with several ideas, including a proposal over the Jumbotron big screen television in New York City's Time's Square. After learning that they would not allow marriage proposals over the big screen, I went with my other top choice: a proposal in the Bahamas. First, I picked up the ring in Manhattan and successfully asked her parents and brother for their blessings. I spent the next month unsuccessfully trying to have a cheesecake from Junior's Restaurant flown from Brooklyn to the Bahamas, but found out that after 9-11, nobody without a preexisting cargo account could ship perishables internationally. Instead, I asked my father to pick up a frozen Junior's Cheesecake the day before our New York departure to the Bahamas and called ahead to our hotel to make arrangements. Upon arriving in New York to fly to the Bahamas, I received the cheesecake from my father and I furtively slid it inside my carry on luggage, between the plastic sheetings of my dry cleaning, and carried it on the plane and through customs unscathed. Upon arriving at our hotel room at the Wyndham Crystal Palace & Casino, I told Donna that I dropped my keys in the lobby, providing an excuse for me to rush the cake down to the hotel's event coordinator. During our second day in the Bahamas, I gave Donna last-second notice to several excursions to limit the time her detective brain could use to figure out what was going on. First, I suprised Donna with a day trip to the quiet and beautiful Love Beach, where we had the sand and surf all to our own for most of the day. It was not until we started to leave that I told her that we had fine dining reservations that evening. While getting dressed for dinner, I realized that I forgotten all my dark socks at home. I ran downstairs to find that all the clothing stores in the hotel shops had closed early. Thus, I was forced to go sockless in my black shoes. After enjoying surf and turf and each other's company at the unusually empty Black Angus Grill, where I made reservations over a month before, I told her that we'd be going to a place with the best desserts in the Bahamas. Although noticeably skeptical, she uncharacteristically humored me. After freshening up in the room, we headed downstairs again and took a "wrong turn" from the lobby towards the beach. The beach, split into a larger and very small halves, was separated by a small cove. While passing the bridge to the smaller, more private side of the beach, we noticed some soft music emanating from behind the palms. I coaxed her to cross the bridge with me to investigate, revealing to her a waiter, a violinist, and the event coordinator near a small round table, draped in white linen and topped with candles and a cheesecake. "Is that a cheesecake?" Donna beamed. "It's a Junior's cheesecake," I assured her. Very proud of myself, we enjoyed the imported cheesecake while the waiter served us Beringer's Chardonnay, the violinist played romantic music, and Donna and I smiled at each other in the candlelight. I told Donna that I picked up something at Love Beach earlier that day and that I wanted her to have it as a memory for our trip. I took a sea shell out of my pocket and placed it on the table halfway between us. She gave it an obligatory glance and continued with her wine and cheesecake. "Don't you want to look at the shell?" I asked, trying not to sound too obvious. "I see it," she assured me, obviously not too interested in the caribbean fossil. "Take a closer look," I told her. She only replied with a quizzical look, so I picked it up, stood up, and walked around the table to her side. I got down on one knee in the sand, showed her the shell, and then turned it over to reveal a diamond ring nestled in soft white cotton inside. "Will you marry me?" I asked. Her face did not change, but I could tell that she was having a hard time absorbing what had just happened so quickly. After a few seconds of shocked silence, her eyes lit up and I was absorbed in her strong, long embrace. I was beaming, she was crying. She said yes. "Don't you want to look at the ring?" I asked her. And then we slow danced shoeless (and sockless) in the Bahamian sand. |
Jason proposed to me
on October 30th, in the Bahamas. If my radar was working that day I should
have known something was going on. But my radar was experiencing technial
difficulties that day and I think Jason is happy about that because he
really shocked me.
We spent the day at a local non-tourist beach called "Love Beach". Aside from construction workers working about 100+ feet away, Jason and I were the only 2 on the beach. It was very nice! At one point, while we were swimming lazily in the ocean, Jason says "Oh yeah, we have dinner reservations for 5:30." At this point it was sometime after 3pm. Folks think this should have made me suspicious because he had made dinner reservations without asking me and was trying to share with me only what he had to. But like I said, the radar was not working. So, dinner at the Blank Angus Grille was on the agenda for the evening. Very lovely restaurant. We had one of the first reservations, so it was nice and quiet in the restaurant. Jason did seem a little pre-occuppied but it was only our 2nd day there and we both needed some time to unwind. At the time of ordering he told me to save room for dessert because he was taking me to "the best dessert place on the island of the Bahamas." At the time I could have thought that he was just being cheap. :-) Instead I was a little curious. As much as I love the Bahamas, it is not well known for its food. But being the fun and romantic gent that Jason is, I assumed he was planning something a little nutty and crazy. Still no clue that he could be popping the question. After dinner we went back to the room to freshen up. As I was freshening up, Jason made a call. He was calling to make sure that everything was ready to go. I assumed he was possibly confirming reservations for this fantastic dessert place. As we left our room I asked Jason if we needed to leave the resort grounds and he said yes. But the way that we were walking was towards the beach/lagoon area. I said as much to Jason, and he said, "Oh we must have made a wrong turn." Anyone that knows Jason knows that he is never directionally challenged. He knows his south from his north and his east from his west. And he would definitely know the way off of the resort grounds! So I was really curious now. But still, my curiousity was leading me to think what cooky plan does he have brewing? Never did I think engagement. As we were walking, I see from the corner of my eye a woman standing and waiting for something at the entrance to this secluded area near the lagoon. As we walk past her Jason then turns toward her and it is obvious to me that she is waiting for us. When I looked past her I saw a table for two with candles, white table cloth and a cheesecake! Which happens to be my favorite dessert. I asked Jason, "Is that a cheesecake?" and he replies, "Not only is that a cheesecake, it is a Juniors cheesecake!" I was thinking . . . as usual Jason has done something fantastic for me. He never leaves me yearning for romance or fun. As we continue to walk to the table I notice a gentleman in a tuxedo chilling wine (Beringer's Chardonnay-my favorite) and a woman playing a violin. I still just thought that Jason planned a romantic evening for us. As we are eating cheesecake, drinking wine, and listening to the violinist, Jason takes out a seashell from his pocket. He says to me "I picked this up for you today at the beach". I respond, "it is very pretty. Thanks, I will add it to my collection." He then puts the seashell in front of me (and this is when it all becomes a little fuzzy) and the next thing I know I am looking at a gorgeous diamond ring and he is on his knee in front of me asking me if I would marry him. I was in complete shock. It took me a second, and of course I said yes, cried some, and finally had Jason put the ring on my finger. I believe I gave him a bit of a hard time when he wanted me to turn over the shell. I thought it was just a seashell and was not going to k'vell over it. I was thinking to myself that it was nice and thoughtful of him but let us just keep it at that. Silly me! After we both calmed down, Jason was once again
sitting across from me. We then danced barefoot in the sand and enjoyed
some more wine and cheesecake. It was a night that I know I won't ever
forget, especially since I have now written it down! :-) |
