As you get older, you realize that the good things in life truly are worth waiting for...
Raised in a small Southern town, like most girls there, I dreamed of moving on one day...of course, I had the Cinderella dream: I'd meet my prince charming and have the perfect wedding with the beautiful dress, the bridesmaids, the works. Life sometimes doesn't work according to plan--it has a plan all its own. After graduating college, most of my friends married their college sweethearts and moved into married life...the job, the house with the picket fence, the 2.5 kids. Not me...I moved alone to Georgia to "fly the friendly skies." It is there that I met Joe...the man who would make all my dreams come true. We were introduced by a mutual friend and, having both recently come out of long relationships, we simply became good friends. Over the course of several years, that friendship developed into much more. Seven years later, we decided to take a "mystery" trip. I knew that this would be THE TRIP...to prepare for our trip, I was told to pack for the beach, one of my favorite places! I packed, (got a manicure ;) and arrived at the airport to discover that we would be going to HAWAII!!! The beginning of the dream...
Arriving in Hawaii I was full of nervous energy. We had a full agenda and all I could wonder is when the moment would come. Our first day there, we went hiking up a volcano. Being the adventurous type, this was even more than I bargained for...but what could possibly be waiting at the top of that volcano kept me going! Arriving at the top of the volcano, I got a surprise alright: a RAINSTORM! So, down the mountain we go through the mud and the muck...and no diamond. Later that evening, we were too tired to make our dinner reservation and instead went to a local burger joint...when the waitress appeared with our drinks, something "plopped" into mine--assuming it was the ring (but thinking this is NOT how I imagined it)I dove into my drink to pull out a huge FAKE diamond ring...Joe, of course, thought this was quite funny! The next day brought some relaxation. We toured the area and enjoyed the island. That evening, we were on our way to dinner when I told Joe that I needed some gum. Coming out of the store, Joe opened his hand to reveal a small black box...this is it!! He dropped to his knee and said, "Marcie, will you chew this gum?" Quite the funny man, he is...day two passes and still no ring. Day 3 comes and I have started to think this has got to be it. Our day started with an early morning submarine ride. It was awesome! Next, we boarded a helicopter to travel to a private island. The scenery was beautiful--truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We land on the island and start to get ready for our picnic when I turn around to find the pilot of the helicopter with a video camera in hand, the other riders standing behind him and Joe on one knee with a small box in hand. On bended knee he says to me: "Marcie, we have shared many adventures together and I hope to share many more. Just like our submarine ride this morning, there will be lows that we will encounter and like the helicopter ride, there will be many highs. Together, we can face them all! Will you marry me?" And of coure, I said, "YES!" And with that, the dream continues...

Ever since I was a little girl, my dad has always called me his little princess. As a result, I grew up with not only a strong sense of self, but also wanting to be a queen for someone with the same qualities as my dad (hard worker, loving husband, "soft and sensitive at home with my mom, great with his kids, etc.). From college on, I met and dated a few men who… once I got to know them more deeply…… were either "close to" or not even in the ball park (relative to my dad's qualities).

A man, now my fiancée (Sam) who has been a part of my family circle for decades, resurfaced in my life 2 years ago. He and my brother are best friends, they went to the same schools, sang in the choir, played football on the same team, probably dated in the same circle (they won't say!:-). I met Sam initially at my sweet sixteen birthday party in the early '70s - where he and my brother were the DJs for the night. The story I'm told by my brother, is that Sam fell "in love" with me as soon as I walked out to greet the guests. He actually agrees with that statement! Obviously since he was so "old" then, I didn’t even notice him. Over the years, he married and moved away, I also moved to a different state and was engaged to someone else...which did not work out.

After traveling around for my job and living in lots of different states, my brother Mark encouraged me to move to Florida to be closer to family. While that may have been a good reason, he had an ulterior motive. He wanted to bring me closer to where Sam lived (sneaky!). Sam was going through a divorce and Mark was apparently always keeping Sam apprised of my life happenings. I moved to Florida and re-met (is that even a word? - LOL) Sam then. After some hesitation on my part and Sam's persistence, we began dating. Fast forwarding to 2 years ago when we decided to take the next step towards being a couple.

We decided to visit some dear friends in Seattle WA and celebrate Valentine’s at the same time - unbeknownst to me, Sam was hatching a scene.

He had shopped for my engagement ring weeks earlier, since he knew that we would be taking the trip. Our friends were able to get reservations at the HerbFarm restaurant in Woodinville and we stayed at Willows Lodge. Sam proposed at the restaurant (restaurant’s theme was, Love) almost as soon as we got there (after the second course – of nine!!), I said yes! He indicated that he really wanted me to be a part of the ring selection process and thought it made sense to wait until we got back to Florida to do so. I said, ok (sort of dejectedly), but I was still overwhelmed since it was so unexpected…so I don’t think that came through in my response. Sam gave me a “temp” ring as a placeholder…looked like those cheap plastic rings one would get out of a quarter coin machine. I found out later that it was? Sam's proposal occurred during the appetizer course. However, his scheming came to light during the desert course. I was not only awe struck, but totally shocked when I attempted to spoon my flan and jabbed into something solid...it was my beautiful 1 carat “princess” cut diamond ring which he cajoled the restaurateur to slip in at the last minute.

At that point he got down on his knees and proposed again. I felt like a queen right then and although Sam had always displayed the qualities I had sought in a mate, for the period that we were dating, everything came together in those moments. It felt sooooooooooo right - how could I not say yes!

/Users/user/Desktop/Our engagement story.doc

The Captain & The Princess - Our Engagement Story

Most undying love stories come from lovers in the springtime of their life. Ours came to us in the autumn of our life, each of us aware of the deep love inside but never able to completely share that discovery with a sole mate.

It was at this time that Barbara and Lynn met (The Captain and The Princess). At first glance she thought he looked like a sea captain and he thought she looked like a Princess. It was love at first sight. What began as a deep attraction, friendship, and dance partners (we both love to dance) turned not only into a raging fire but the deepest sole felt love each had ever tasted.
After dating several years the Captain knew he had to have the Princess so now the question, when and how? A vacation to the New England states and Niagara Falls was planned and the wheels started turning. Being computer savvy and having two years of beautiful memories, songs and pictures he created a diamond vacation/slide show proposal. After seeking input from family he found the perfect stone for his Princess assisted by his son-in-law who had selected a beautiful diamond from Abazias several years earlier. With a little research he found a 1.74 flawless Princess cut stone from Abazias and that was it a flawless stone for his flawless Princess, now how to present it.
On that special night over looking Niagara Falls from their Hilton suite this bedtime story unfolded. He was full of anticipation with lots of emotions including nervousness because they had not talked about marriage. While he knew she liked Princess cut diamonds he didn’t know if she would like the ring he had chosen. He almost had to convince her that the slide show of their life together was worth staying awake for. As it turned out it consisted of over 200 captioned pictures synchronized with 50 of our favorite song melodies. So we finally relaxed and the 30-minute laptop slide show began. Near the end, our favorite song started playing and a slide speaking of his feelings for her followed by a picture asking her to marry him. The Princess looked at The Captain and said in shock “this isn’t just a slide show is it?” The next slide was this picture of a beautiful mahogany box followed by the open box with this spectacular flawless ring in it. At that time he gave her the box that I had been hidden; she was speechless. She said, “I had thought about this, but in a few more years.” He held her firmly in his arms and waited patently and she finally said yes. Needless to say she didn’t sleep much that night and he slept like a baby.
We left Niagara Falls for Bar Harbor, ME and on the way was lucky enough to stay a night at the Mount Washington Hotel in the White Mountains of NH, one of America’s grand hotels. Bar Harbor was beautiful and the rest of our vacation was as well. We spent many hours admiring her engagement ring; embracing the feelings we have for each other and are now looking for a new home to start a new life together.

The Captain & The Princess
Lynn & Barbara



Perfect woman - Perfect ring - Perfect vacation


-Pictures provided if wanted-

Me an Chris have been together for almost a year with many conversations about the future. I am a big worrier about all big life changes, so of the night of the proposal I was expressing my concern of me going back to college and the worry of not being able to afford to go full time at school and also going full time work. With me worrying about how hard life would be if he was not there to help me though the "bumps in the road" he just listened to me with the most warming eyes that always help me to claim down. When I stopped talking. He gave me a smile and explained that he will always be there to support me in any way, if it was emotional or physical. That's when he asked me to marry him saying that he does not want to live another day with out me and him being together not only physically but for all life.

THE IDEA

Karen Silverman is not normal. Knowing her peculiar tastes and personality, I knew that the standard “down on one knee with a ring” or “Will you marry me” flashing on the Jumbotron at the Mets game wasn’t going to cut it for a marriage proposal (besides the fact that we both hate sports and my knee tends to act up unpredictably during inopportune moments). I certainly couldn’t rely on my dashing good looks, gigantic bankroll or winning personality. This time, I knew, only a creative approach and my slipshod carpentry skills could obtain the results I desired.
My initial inspiration was the idea of somehow getting a ring on her finger without her noticing. Once I’d ruled out slipping her a mickey or waiting for her to fall asleep (neither situation are especially romantic, although a groggy state of mind would undoubtedly increase my chances of success), I decided to reward all of my hard work by watching some television. I was delighted to see that “Big”, Tom Hanks’ best vehicle since playing a cross-dresser on “Bosom Buddies” was showing.
Unfortunately, ”Big” wasn’t quite as hilarious as I’d remembered it being when I saw it at 15 years old, and I slipped into a stupor. Inspiration jerked me back into the land of the living upon seeing Tom Hanks slide a coin into the “Zoltar Speaks” automated fortune-telling machine. That could work! I would build an “automated” palm-reading booth and hide inside. When Karen put her hand inside to have her palm read, I would slip a ring on her finger!

THE EXECUTION

Sharing a room in a Manhattan apartment didn’t afford me much privacy or space, so I decided to enlist a few more ne’er-do-wells to help with my scheme. My friends Trevor & Rachel volunteered their Queens apartment as home base for building and storage. They lived an hour away by subway, so I would become quite adept at lying about my whereabouts for long stretches of time (a wonderful base for any successful relationship!).
After drawing up some rudimentary plans, we made a few supply runs to various hardware stores and 99-cent establishments. Originally, I wished to build it out of wood covered with hammered tin to give it a pseudo-futuristic feel. Following some price comparisons, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to afford all of the necessary supplies (remember that gigantic bank-roll I mentioned earlier? Sarcasm is hard to detect on the written page, isn’t it?). Trevor’s eagle eye honed in on some somewhat inexpensive and highly flammable sheets of silver coated insulation foam. The fact that they could be cut with only a utility knife was definitely alluring. The insulation sheets were eight feet wide, so we did some in-house figuration and cutting to make sure they’d fit (sort-of) into Trevor’s car trunk.
I planned on setting the booth up in a desolate and unexpected area of Brooklyn, so I needed something (besides the highly reflective silver walls) to catch Karen’s eye and make her want to stick her hand into the contraption. A creepy gypsy behind a Plexiglas window would do the trick. I used an old witch mask along with fake eyeballs (one white with cataract for authenticity), a babushka, some fake pearl necklaces and gold hoop earrings for the gypsy. I stuffed an old fishbowl with iridescent glitter to create a convincing crystal ball, and stuffed and painted some dishwashing gloves to serve as hands gripping the ball on either side. Lastly, I lined the gypsy’s window with astrologer-approved star covered paper.
Now, I needed to give the effect that this palm-reading machine was automated so that she wouldn’t suspect that I was hiding inside. I bought a few Japanese dollar-store keyboards to provide bleeps and bloops (The poorly translated English on the packaging promised that I would be able to “Sound a beautiful music”). I also bought various back massagers, paint rollers and feathers to provide tactile sensory of the “machinery” reading her palm.
The next part of my plan involved finding a way to get the ring on her finger without my hands touching her. I decided a two-part ring that snapped together would solve the problem. By building a mold that her hand would fit into and fitting the bottom half of the ring into a recess beneath her finger, she wouldn’t be aware of it’s presence. During the “palm-reading”, I could snap the top half of the ring on and then slip a fortune-cookie fortune reading “Will you marry me?” into her palm.
The final hurdle would be getting Karen out to the afore-mentioned desolate area in Brooklyn. I feel obligated to mention her great loathing for leaving Manhattan for any of the other four surrounding boroughs. Her deep hatred for the other boroughs borders on psychosis. I’m sure it has deep psychological roots, but I won’t attempt to elucidate further here.
I volunteered a mutual friend, Kathryn, to lure her to Brooklyn with the promise of a huge flea market, perhaps the only attraction strong enough to counter her resistance to leaving Manhattan. Kathryn is an accomplished photographer, so she could also photograph the proceedings under the guise of a photography assignment without raising suspicion.

THE PROPOSITION

The day my cohorts and I had set aside for my proposition finally arrived. I secretly packed my best all white polyester ensemble (complete with clip-on tie and pocket “four-corner” hankie) and headed out to home base. Upon reaching Trevor & Rachel’s apartment, I called Kathryn to let her know that we were packing the car and on our way. She was audibly upset. Karen had cancelled their outing due to being backed up with work. I told her I’d come up with “Plan B” and call her back.
We brainstormed and came up with the idea of setting up the booth in Manhattan, somewhere very close to Karen’s apartment. Kathryn would call Karen again and beg her to come out for a 15-minute photo-shoot. She would say that a much respected photographer had asked her to do a quick portrait shoot to determine whether he could use her as an assistant, and that her other model had fallen through at the last minute. We would set up the booth in an area that they would be walking by, and Kathryn would entice Karen to get her palm read after getting her own reading.
Hastily packing up our supplies, we headed over to Manhattan to scout a location. We found a street that had relatively little foot traffic, a playground that could serve as the supposed photo-shoot site and was only a few blocks from Karen’s apartment. We gave the location to Kathryn and began constructing the booth. We only had a few minutes before Karen’s arrival, so we set up as quickly as possible. A passer-by stopped and asked (too many) questions. He wanted to watch, so we told him he could if he would only go somewhere else and let us set up in peace. Trevor sealed me inside the booth, and he and Rachel ran across the street to watch, wearing disguises.
I couldn’t see anything inside the booth, but I could hear Karen and Kathryn approaching. I heard Kathryn exclaim, “Whoa! What’s that?!” and then Karen, obviously continuing to walk past the booth, “C’mon, it’s probably for Halloween or something…Let’s go!” Kathryn told her that she was going to get her palm read, to which Karen replied, “I wouldn’t stick my hand in that thing!” Kathryn ignored her and proceeded with our plan. I rolled the paint rollers and such over her hand, made machinery sounds with the keyboards and placed a fortune in her hand.
“You are destined for success,” Kathryn read her fortune aloud, “Your companion is destined for a palm-reading.” She goaded Karen into having her fortune told until Karen reluctantly slid her hand into the slot. I began rolling her hand with the back-massager while delicately snapping the bottom half of the ring onto her finger. Despite my best attempts, she felt my fingers and quickly pulled her hand out of the slot. I hadn’t had a chance to put her “Will you marry me?” fortune into her palm, so I slid it out of the slot. Luckily, she noticed it and pulled it out.
She read the fortune, seemingly very confused. I heard her tell Kathryn that some creepy little kid was in the booth hitting on her. I pulled away the gypsy window to reveal myself inside the booth. I could almost see the gears turning in her brain. Absolute confusion turned slowly to understanding, and she practically climbed through the booth’s window to kiss me.

THE RESULT

Karen told me afterwards that she had seen the passer-by sitting in his car leering at her as she got her palm read. He made her more nervous than she already was about sticking her hand into some strange structure. When she realized that someone was definitely inside, she withdrew her hand for fear that rotten food or worse would be rubbed onto her palm. Noticing the ring, she assumed that she’d received a cheap prize rather than a fortune. Upon closer examination (Karen is a jeweler, so she knows her metals), she realized that the ring was made of sterling silver, and she didn’t know why someone would be giving away a ring made of precious metals. When I popped out of the window, she was shocked and thoroughly confused until she finally put it all together.
I am glad to report that she accepted my proposal. We scavenged the gypsy window and a few of the signs as mementos but left the fortune telling booth in the playground after re-labeling it “Puppet Show Theatre” with a Sharpie marker. We’re currently planning our wedding for this summer. It’s going to be a pool party and vegetarian cookout featuring a giant slip n’ slide into a pond and a Van Halen tribute band.