How We Met
We first met in South Florida, as both of us were students in the area at two different schools. Both of us had a mutual friend who introduced us. We both were supposed to hang out with him and a group of friends the same night we met. While him and the group were hanging out with me, our friend had a great idea and called Ricky, thinking we would make a great couple. He knew both of our personalities really well so he thought he would give it a shot and play matchmaker for a night! When he told me that he wanted me to meet Ricky, I got a little excited and was also a little nervous. I went to go tidy up my hair and lipstick. I guess I wanted to impress him. Ricky found out my favorite wine and went out to get it before coming, since he of course wanted to leave a good first impression as well. We first saw each other and smiled. Both of us felt a little nervousness from both sides, but then we quickly found out how talkative and outgoing we both are. Things started to hit off right there. From there we went out by the water for a walk with our group of mutual friends, and they soon left us so we can talk alone. We had a lot to talk about, and the best part was, it was not hard to maintain a conversation and we ended up talking for hours. As we exchanged numbers, I jokingly said, you better call me tomorrow! And a phone call the next day is definitely what I got from Ricky. Ricky had asked me to go out on a date, which ended up being on the beach. The majority of our dates and important events were always around a body of water, and we soon realized it was symbolic for us.
how they asked
Every bit of the proposal weekend trip was perfect, and every little detail was thought out by Ricky. I was visiting Ricky in New Jersey since I had a few days off from work. Ricky was doing a one month externship near his parent’s house so he was staying there. Ricky had an interview in Staten Island, NY the day before his birthday, which is when everything began. Our favorite New York style pizzeria is Denino’s which is right near where he was interviewing. Coincidentally, his father also works in Staten Island, and Ricky had told me to come with him in the afternoon so we can eat lunch at Denino’s after the interview. He said we can “go with the flow” and hang out afterwards. So after pizza, we hit the road. I thought we were going to the mall to shop around for a bit. We were on the road for a while so I asked, “Where are we going?”. He replied, “The mall! Its pretty far away, I’m going to take you to New Jersey’s best mall.” I was still a little confused, but hey, I’m not from the state so I wouldn’t know. I had a feeling we were in New York since we passed the George Washington Bridge, but I know the borders around this area are iffy and its a pretty crazy hectic place for me, since I grew up in a small town. Soon enough a sign came up on the road that read “Welcome to Connecticut!” So I started bothering Ricky. I said, “Hey! Where are we going? Please tell me!” Ricky then started laughing and said its a surprise. We passed a few malls on the way so he would joke, “Alright we are here!” Then he would continue to drive along. I asked how far we are going, and how will we possibly be home for dinner? Before leaving his parent’s house, his mom told me to let her know what to make for dinner. Ricky said that I needed to stop worrying. I then called his mom and said we are going somewhere and her son won’t tell me where. She said “Oh well I guess you have to go.” I asked Ricky, “Are we staying overnight? What about our clothes and everything?” He just kept on laughing and said, “Don’t worry we can buy clothes, or just wear these for two days! I like to be spontaneous!” It was about 3-4 hours of driving and we stopped at a rest area to fuel up and grab coffee. I saw in the back of his SUV there were some bags. So I smiled and said, “You brought clothes, didn’t you?” I put two and two together and realized that his mom snuck my luggage bag and put it in his dad’s car before we left to go to Staten Island. Ricky laughed and said that he wanted to do something fun for his birthday since every time either one of our birthday’s comes around, we are always busy and don’t get to celebrate on the actual day. He said he wanted to surprise me with a trip, which I found out later was to Portland, Maine. We got there pretty late, so we just had dinner and went back to our room. Ricky said he booked an early morning cruise which was supposed to be fancy so we had to wake up early. It was 5:30AM and Ricky woke up and showered. He was putting on a suit while I was going to go shower. I had my clothes picked out from the bag. After I showered, I came out to see a nice dress laying on the bed! It was complete with brand new shoes, earrings, and a necklace. I was so excited. Ricky always said he wanted to have a fancy date where he would pick out every little thing for me, and all I had to do was relax and go with the flow. We got ready, and he said he wanted to take me to a nice place by the water before the boat to just hang out and enjoy the view. This is something we always did in Florida when we were in school. He took me to the Portland Headlight, which is a light house in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
The sun rise was so beautiful, the skies were clear, the weather was amazing in December. Everything was perfect. We decided to go for a walk on a trail that hugs the water.
I saw from a afar, there was something that was red and looked odd compared to the normal grey colored rocks that made up the trail. I asked Ricky, “Whats going on over there?” He said, “I have no idea, maybe those people taking pictures of the sunrise are doing something.” As we neared that spot, I saw that it was a photo trail.
Each photo, or group of photos put together had a caption, and it represented sort of a timeline of our life together, and of all of the important moments leading up to this very moment itself. I knew what was going on, and I started to have tears running down my cheeks. Ricky gave me a kiss on the cheek, and then started to help me pick up the rest of the photos. The last photo was of a ring, so I turned around after looking at it, and saw Ricky down on one knee, with a real ring in his hand, asking me to marry him! Of course, I said yes!
I told him, everything was perfect. He said that it wasn’t over yet. He had also brought another pair of clothes to change into for a photoshoot. Everything was perfect, it’s what I wanted. The water, the scenery, and the sunrise. It was so early in the morning, but Ricky remembered what I would tell him when we would watch the sunset on the beach in Florida. I always told him that I love the sun rising more than watching the sun set, because the sunset is the ending of a day, and it becomes dark after its over. The rising sun brings about a new day, representing a new beginning, and that day definitely brought a new beginning to our life.
