How We Met
Mike and I met 5 years ago when I was just 18 years old and working as a waitress at Shoeless Joe’s. He came in with two co-workers on opening night and was bashful as ever, as he repeatedly apologized for his much older coworkers’ (could have been my dads age) constant flirting. He was very quiet and observed the way I answered questions and conducted myself with his friends. After a few visits to the table to make sure everything was ok, and in between asking if he wanted another refill of Iced Tea, Mike struck up a conversation with me. He began with guessing my partially Italian background and said he “had a knack for guessing those things” and then asked whether or not I thought that golfing was a good first date idea.
At this point, and being 18, I was very naive and believed he was asking me to gain another woman’s perspective for a future date he was considering with someone else. When he asked me for my number before he left, I was shocked and asked him for his license. I was partially intimidated because he was older than me. I gave him my number, he called me three days later and I said no. Two weeks later, I asked him if I could take him up on his golfing offer and he accepted… Sometimes, you just can’t stop thinking of someone, and in those moments, you need to trust your gut. The rest is history.
how they asked
On June 18th, 2016, we were celebrating our 5 year anniversary. A few weeks before, I had mentioned that Mike should rent a car that he’s always wanted to drive but never had the opportunity to, and that we would not make reservations anywhere and just be spontaneous on that day. Just get in the car and drive kinda thing. Sure enough, that morning we end up driving to Burlington for lunch on the waterfront in a 1962 red corvette. Mike was adamant that we stop to “let the car cool down” and in all fairness, it was +30 degrees that day, so I could say I blamed him. Right off the highway, Mike pulls into a parking lot on the water, and rather than parking, he drives up onto the boardwalk! I was freaking out because people were watching and it was evident that cars do not belong on pathways that could possibly run over joggers, bikers and dogs.
As I commanded he turned the corner and onto a pier and parked the car. We got out and met some people who seemed to really admire the corvette and wanted to take pictures. We ventured off down the pier, and Mike begins to tell me that he really wants to wait until I’m done school before we settle down. Of course, I was a little disappointed, but because we had discussed this in the past I can’t say I was surprised; until he pulls a ring pop out of his pocket and offers it as what I like to call, a tease. It’s one thing to not propose, but to then rub it in my face with a ring pop? That’s just cruel. I think I remember asking him if I could throw it over the pier for how upset I was. We continued to walk down the pier, and it was still extremely hot but Mike pushed me to walk to the end.
We got to the end, and I was leaning over the edge to see the water when I felt his presence missing. Suddenly I hear him slightly behind me, as he says, “Sa, I know I said I wanted to wait until you’re done school, but will you marry me now?”
I turned around and could not believe what was happening.
I started laugh crying instantly, an emotion I had never experienced in my whole life.
I could even see the ring through my tears as I bent down to hug him for a solid 5 minutes before he asked me, “is that a yes?” Needless to say, I was in utter shock as I happily cried “yes of course!” Turns out, the guy who liked the car and wanted to take some pictures was actually an acquaintance of Mike and he asked him to capture the proposal.
Now I’m getting married to my person.
