Paul and Evelyn

The Proposal

For the longest time, I knew I wanted to marry Evelyn. Being that we were together for such a long time, we.d already talked about .it. on several occasions. I knew that she did not want to be in school, nor did she want a long engagement.

So a few years ago, I started thinking about what I would do. In an effort to keep her surprised I wanted to do it before her graduation (summer 2008). So in the summer of 2007 I reached out to Narisa and my sister to help me look for a ring. After buying the perfect ring, Narisa and I started planning on the details.

Coincidentally I received a phone call from Naris (her dad) a few days after getting back to Nashville and we finally/prematurely had .the talk. (depending on how you want to look at it). I asked him to keep it to himself, and for the most part he kept his word (more on this later). I had thought that Narisa spilled the beans, but she definitely did not. it really was just coincidence.

So getting back to planning. I knew I had to do it before her graduation and I was not going to do a Christmas, New Years or her birthday. I ended up choosing January 14th, the day I asked her out 10 years earlier in high school. It.s a little cheesy, but I was happy with it.

Being in Nashville made things a little difficult. But I had seen a few things in my visits to San Diego. I knew I liked the area around the cove and I knew about the great food around there. I made reservations for my flight, rental car and the restaurant as soon as I was able to (I remember George.s not willing to accept a reservation 5 months in advance haha).

Anyway, under the guise of being in a remote Arizona Testing facility (so Evelyn would understand the lack of contact for the coming days) I flew in to San Diego on a Friday drove around the cove to scout it out. Then drove up to LA for a meeting in Torrance then hung out with my family that night. Sunday, I was going to have the talk with Jane (her mom) which was already a little scary in itself. but I went to their house and where I thought I was going to have to ask for permission. Funny thing is Naris finally broke his promise not to talk earlier that day. So I didn.t have to ask, I got a hug and the approval I was looking for.

The next day I drove down to San Diego, got to the cove early and just sat around for a few hours. By the time 3pm came around I was talking to Narisa on the phone and she told me, .Don.t worry, I.ll get her there.

I waited and waited, and around 4:40 I finally got the phone call from Narisa, she was on the phone with Evelyn and going back and forth. She had the task of guiding Evelyn to where I was. it was tough, but she did it. I saw Evelyn come around the bend and she ran down the stairs and I heard Narisa say .Happy Anniversary!. on the phone. Good thing she did not slip.

So Evelyn and I sat on the bench looking over the ocean. I told her we had reservation at 5:30, so we had some time to kill. We talked about the planning process, and all the trickery over the past few months to surprise her. It was 5:00 pm according to my phone, and I knew I had to ask soon (the almanac had said 5:03pm for sundown). I asked her to close her eyes, and I got down on one knee, pulled out the ring from my jacket pocket and asked her the big question.

In return, I got another question. .are you sure?. she asked me.

Weird, I thought, but I said, .yes..

At this point she was tearing, but she said .of course..

I slid the ring onto her finger and got a big hug and kiss.