The Proposal – December 29, 2002

Sometime in November of 2002, you told me that your mom won an all-expense paid trip for 2 to New York City for New Year’s Eve from WEBN.  She couldn’t go so she gave the tickets to us.  Hmmm…  That sounded a little funny to me.  It was hard to believe that she would pass up the opportunity to go to NYC and that she would give us the trip knowing that Shannon would also want to go.  I was suspicious so I started listening to WEBN but I never heard anything about the contest or winner.  Your mom, dad and sister all did a good job playing along with the story though.  The destination of NYC still had me thinking that you were going to propose – you always made a big deal about us going to New York City for the first time together.  I knew that city was going to be special for some reason…  

On Saturday morning, December 28th, my dad drove us to the Cincinnati International Airport and we took off for New York City!  I remember you were so stressed out because you thought we were going to miss our flight.  You calmed down once we got on the plane though.  We took a cab from LaGuardia to the Roosevelt hotel.  We were amazed by the huge skyscrapers and all the honking taxi cabs on the road!  When we arrived to the hotel, I was still a little uncertain if this was the ‘engagement trip’.  The front desk clerk, however, made me believe that this was, indeed, a trip given by WEBN.  The clerk said to you, “This is the room being held by ClearChannel Communications, correct?”  You confirmed and I was completely thrown off.  From that moment on, I thought your mom did win the trip!  For the rest of the day we went sightseeing.  You told me that we had plans on Sunday around 4:00 and that I would need to wear my red dress.  You being the clever one that you are, had me buy a red dress a month before the trip saying that since our song was Lady in Red, I should have a red dress.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time.  When you said I had to wear the formal red dress, I just assumed we were going to some fancy show.  

On Sunday, December 29th, we woke up early and started walking around the city.  We made our way over to the famous Serendipity restaurant and put our name on the waiting list for lunch.  We got there as soon as the doors opened so we only had to wait about 45 minutes.  Shortly after we put our name on the list, the wait grew to 2+hours!  The food was awesome and we had a great time in the whimsical restaurant.  After we finished eating, we walked around the city a little longer.  Around 2:30 or so, your tone started getting more serious.  You said we had to get back to the hotel to start getting ready for our afternoon plans.  So, when we got back, you changed into a suit and I relaxed on the bed for a few minutes.  You were anxious and wanted me to get ready right away – so I got up and put the red dress on!  Around 3:30, you were ready and rearing to go.  You seemed a little zoned out but I didn’t think too much of it at the time.  As soon as a taxi pulled up to take us to our “destination”, your cell phone started ringing off the hook.  You got me into the cab and closed the door behind me.  You stood outside the cab talking to whoever was on the other end of the phone.  Meanwhile, the foreign cab driver kept asking me over-and-over again, “destination?”  I didn’t know so I was getting irritated.  Finally you got into the cab and said matter-of-factly, “Rockefeller Center”.  The whole ride, I tried to think of what we could be doing in Rockefeller Center in these fancy clothes.  It was cute…  You were looking out the window, being very quiet pretty much the whole ride to Rockefeller Center.  Out of the blue, you turned to me, took my hand, looked in my eyes and said, “I love you.  I love you.”  I smiled and said, “I love you too.”  I could kind of tell you were nervous about something but I definitely didn’t know what.  When we got to our destination, we got out of the cab and started wandering around the center.  We speed-walked around the perimeter at least twice and I was annoyed because I had on extremely uncomfortable shoes.  So, I started being kind of mean – I asked you at least a million times where we were going.  You, of course, ignored me.  Then I suggested we ask for directions but you were off your own world at that point.  Finally, your pace slowed.  I was confused because we were power racing just the moment before, looking for some type of destination, but now we were just leisurely walking through the crowd.  Then, the crowd parted and we came upon a “homeless bum” playing a saxophone.  You completely stopped walking (our hurry to the destination apparently no longer important) and put me in front of you so you could put your arms around me.  The “bum” stopped playing his current song and started playing a new one.  Then, you looked at me and said, “Doesn’t this sound like Lady in Red?”  Only a few notes had been played so I couldn’t really tell.  But when you said that, I noticed the red rose lying in the saxophone case, I realized that I was wearing a red dress, our song was playing and this was our “destination”.  I immediately started crying.  I knew what was happening…  You hugged me and tried to calm me down and make me think nothing was going on.  It didn’t work.  Next, a woman walking a Yorkie dog (you bought me a yorkie puppy just a few days before) came toward us.  The little dog was wearing a red cape and a diamond-studded collar.  You said to me, “Doesn’t that look like our dog?” and I think I shook my head yes.  Hard to tell, I was still crying at this point…  The woman smiled at us and said, “Hi, Erin.”  How did she know my name?  I definitely knew what was happening.  She picked up her dog and you questioned, “I wonder what her name is”.  So, you started looking for a dog tag. You had trouble finding it so the woman started helping, she couldn’t find it so I started helping.  Finally, it was found lying on the ground – it had fallen off the dog’s collar.  The tag said, “Lucky” on one side.  Then you asked me to flip it over.  While I was doing this, you positioned yourself behind me.  The other side said, “Will you marry me?”  I turned around and you were on your knee with a ring.  You said the sweetest things to me but all I heard was, “Will you marry me?”  I was overwhelmed by emotion.  I think I mouthed the words yes but I know I at least shook my head.  I didn’t even look at the ring when you presented it on your knee.  I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.  After I said “yes”, I noticed the large crowd that had gathered around us to watch.  Everyone started clapping and cameras were going off right and left.  After we left Rockefeller, I was able to check out my ring.  It was gorgeous – beyond anything I ever expected.  Beyond perfect!  We took some time to ‘come back down to earth’ before your next planned event.  We hugged, kissed, laughed, cried, you name it.  I was in heaven and you were too!  You were also a little more calm, I can’t imagine why!!!

Next, we took a very romantic carriage ride around Central Park.  We snuggled under a blanket taking in everything around us.  After the ride, we went back to the hotel.  The woman behind the front desk congratulated us on our engagement – she knew the whole time!  When we got up to the room, there was a single red rose hanging on the door handle.  I thought the housekeeping people had put it there for us.  When I opened the door, there were roses everywhere!  Roses on the dressers, on the nightstand, sprinkled on the carpet, on the bed, in the bathtub, everywhere!  On top of that, candles were lit and soft music was playing!  It was incredible!  I had never seen so many yellow roses with red tips in one place in my life!

Next, we headed off to Il Cantinori for dinner.  The carriage driver had suggested it.  I was thrilled because it was very fancy and the HBO show Sex & the City had been filmed in that restaurant.  Dinner was awesome.  The manager sent us a bottle of champagne to celebrate our engagement.  We ordered the most expensive thing on the menu – Filet Mignon.  We were surprised when plates came out with nothing on it besides the steak.  We didn’t realize that everything on the menu was a la carte!  So, we drank our champagne and ate our filet with smiles on our faces!  

After dinner, we headed over to Time Square – you had one more surprise.  As we were walking through Time Square, we ran into some very familiar faces – Shannon, Colleen, and Noemi!  You paid for them to come to New York to help make the engagement “perfect”.  Colleen took pictures of the whole proposal and they all helped with the roses.  Later that night, we all went to a very narrow, very crowded comedy club at Times Square.  We had a blast hanging out together – celebrating the most romantic day of our lives!  In my dreams, I couldn’t have thought up something as romantic and perfect as your plan.  I think I had an out-of-body experience on December 29th, 2002.  I had never been so happy, felt so loved or as beautiful as I did that day.  I don’t know what else to say - You were AMAZING!  I almost feel guilty telling the story because it makes everyone jealous that I have the most romantic man in the world!