On a few occasions during the summer of 2009, Katelyn and I had discussed the potential possibility of eventually getting married to one another. On two separate occasions, we actually asked each other to marry (me first, her second), but without a ring or a sense of reality to these proposals, we just carried on as always.
As the month of August began approaching and our impending trip together to South Carolina got closer and closer, I began to think seriously about proposing with a real ring: my grandmother's engagement ring from my dad's side of the family. I didn't want to propose while we were in South Carolina because we were down there for a wedding already: the marriage between Katelyn's cousin Ryan and his wife Cheryl. I thought it would be tacky and vain to propose while we were on vacation for that purpose, so I waited.
While Katelyn and I were at the aiport in Charlotte, North Carolina waiting for our flight back to New York (JFK) and eventually the Portland Jetport in Maine, I called my mother while Katelyn was in the bathroom and asked her to put aside Nana's engagement ring so that I could get it from her. We arrived back in Maine late that Sunday night (August 9th, 2009) and the next day was my 25th birthday, that quarter-life milestone. Continuing a running theme, the next morning my mom gave me the ring in a small pouch while Katelyn was in the bathroom brushing her teeth. For the entirety of my birthday, I considered proposing to Katelyn, but eventually I decided that I did not want to clutter August 10th with both my birthday and the anniversary of our engagement. At the end of the day on Monday, we were back at Katelyn's apartment in Blue Hill.
Katelyn's vacation unfortunately came to an end on Tuesday (08/11/2009) and she was back to work at her architecture firm in Blue Hill. After eating lunch with her on her break, I came to the decision that I would propose to her that night when she got home from work. I set about making preparations for the proposal, picking up items from the store and brainstorming what I would say.
When Katelyn got out of work around 5:30PM, I was not in the apartment. I left her a note, a package of Almond Joys (one of her favorite chocolates), and two vases with five pink roses in them. The note read as follows:
"Hey lover,
I'm not here right now. But I am still in Blue Hill, so don't worry. I have left some food energy and five roses here. Find me at the park past the hospital for the last rose. :-)
Love you!
Brian"
A few minutes before she got out of work, I had headed out to the aforementioned park with rose in hand and engagement ring in pocket. I sat and waited in the park until about 5:40PM, when I began to worry that Katelyn may have had to work late and I began to fear that her cats, Teagan and Gabe, might get into the roses and leave a mess for her to pick up. Thankfully, as I approached the exit of the park, I saw Katelyn coming up the street to meet me, preserving my proposal plan. I gave her the final rose and kissed her.
Together we walked through the park on the coast of Blue Hill Bay and, with the tide being out, walked across a sand bar to a rocky island in the water at Katelyn's suggestion. We climbed up the rock and sat looking out towards the ocean. The weather was a bit gray, but thankfully the rain of earlier in the afternoon had come to an end. For a while, we sat and just talked, Katelyn relating the events of her first day back at work. Eventually we began to talk about what I would be doing the next day, as I was planning to get some of my belongings from my apartment in Old Town, Maine to bring back for the move to her apartment in Blue Hill. She asked if I would be home that night, as she didn't want to have to sleep alone again.
That was the avenue I decided to follow into the proposal. I forget the exact words I used in my proposal, as my heart was racing and it was all I could do to keep my nerves under control and make sense with my voice. But I will convey the overall message of the proposal to the best of my memory.
I told Katelyn that she had saved me from a dark place in my life, because when I first started talking to her I wasn't sure how I felt about love and trusting somebody with so much. I wasn't sure how I would be able to find happiness with somebody. But through meeting Katelyn, and getting to know her, and eventually dating her, I had found happiness beyond what I ever could have imagined. I told her that I never wanted to wake up next to anyone else ever again. Then I took the engagement ring from my pocket, held it in the palm of my hand, and asked her if she would marry me.
The answer, as you all know, was affirmative, though Katelyn actually said "Of course I will, yes" in her sweet southern accent picked up from the prior weekend in South Carolina.
The typical post-proposal things happened after we got back to her apartment. We drank some wine together in celebration while we each called parents and friends to pass along the good news. Katelyn had a good deal of "Oh my God!" conversations with her friends than I did, but I chalk that up to the gender thing.
The happiness of that night has been tempered somewhat by the more grim reality of deciding when and where and how much to spend on our wedding, but neither of us will ever forget the story of our proposal or the love that we share that has helped all of this to happen.
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