The Proposal

Dave: It was a great day! We had a blast painting in the morning with Sue Hilerio. Then we headed up to my parents' cottage in Wolcott. My nieces and nephew were already there with my folks splashing the day away in the lake. We eagerly joined in the fun.

Karen: Painting is pretty much one of my favorite ways to pass the day, after all. My parents came up in time for all of us to have a little barbecue, then we walked over to a neighbor's house to get the best view of the fireworks that were about to be set off over the lake.

Dave: Oh! Don't forget about the fire I made! It was a teepee fire in the firepit. I didn't even use a match to start it; there were still enough ashes left over from the previous bonfire I'm assuming my dad made.

Karen: Okay, that may or may not have been relevant to the story, but it was well built anyway.

Dave: Hey, I'm an Eagle Scout!

Karen: In any case, we brought some chairs over and watched some fireworks together. Dave sat on my lap, because there were a lot of people, and we never mind doubling up.

Dave: There was a very cool apple firework. And a smiley face one, too! I had made a secret trip to my car during the barbecue to sneak a certain jewelry box into my pocket. I was a little afraid, while Karen had her arms around me, that she had noticed its presence.

Karen: He was a little squirmy, but that didn't seem too unusual. He kept redirecting my arms so that they were interwoven with his. I thought he was feeling a bit chilly.

Dave: I was not chilly. I was trying to figure out just the right time to pop the question. The fireworks were a little bit distracting in the sense that I didn't feel like anything could be done during the show. Then, once they were over, we started heading back to my parents' house with our chairs, so it occurred to me to save the ring for another time.

Karen: It was still a beautiful night out, and there did still seem to be some magic in the air, so I suggested that we go sit out on the dock, which we had finished repairing a few days before.

Dave: At that point, I thought that she had definitely felt the box and was giving me the opportunity to man up and ask.

Karen: Nope, I hadn't had any idea. I just wanted a little romantic alone time with my Davey. Plus the stars were out.

Dave: That's when I got out the app on my phone that my friend Adam had shown me. It's called Google SkyMap, and it helped us identify and find stars and constellations.

Karen: The stars were nice and all, but I was just enjoying how nice a time we were having. It felt verrrry romantic. We may have canoodled a bit.

Dave: Yeah, there was definitely some canoodling. And a little impromptu singing.

Karen: The internet may not want to hear about that part. It was a little dorky.

Dave: Just the lyrics. The harmonies were good. Everyone else had headed home for the evening by then, so we were alone out there. I suggested we should start getting up to go in, too, so Karen stood up.

Karen: Yup, but Dave didn't. He was still waiting on his knees. Then he hugged my waist, and I hugged back, and he said he had something for me. I couldn't think of what he would have meant. But then he pulled out a jewelry box and flipped it open. I had my suspicions by then, but all I could say was "wait...really??"

Dave: That's when I asked her to marry me. She didn't answer right away. Maybe it was just sinking in, I don't know.

Karen: Yeah, I was having a heck of a time believing that it was finally happening. I had imagined it so many times, it was hard to convince myself that this was the real thing.

Dave: And it was.

Karen: Somewhere in there, I said "yes" or "of course" or something, but I was on a little bit of a high by that time. In case it wasn't clear, I confirmed my affirmative response for him on the drive down to Hamden the next day when he was heading down to ask my parents' permission.

Dave: They also said yes, by the way. So there it is. That's the story of our proposal.