THE PROPOSAL
Let me set the scene, granted this basic post is also included in the “Sorry Jesus” Inca Trail post, but I decided it deserved its own mention. Anyway, back to the scene…
It was night one of the Inca Trail four-day hike, which also landed on April 1st – my birthday. Our quirky little group was sheltering in a local family’s farm. Our tiny, red, and NOT waterproof tents were set up on a higher tier than the toilets and the meal tent. The lower tier is also where the porters gathered and prepared our outstanding meals.
We started out each night before dinner with a “happy hour” of sorts (no booze, unfortunately). This involved us huddled around our meal tent – a large tent containing a couple fold out tables and round stools. We huddled inside the tent, plopped on stools, and chatted while drinking a variety of teas in childlike plastic mugs. That first night went something like this (in my head, anyway)…
Chris stands up to address the group suddenly (**What is this nut doing???**)
Chris’ hands are shaking (**His sugar must be low**)
Chris snatches my camera & hands it to Israel (**Hey! That’s mine!**)
Chris moves his stool back from the table, out of his way (**What the hell – sorry, Jesus – is this kid doing??**)
Chris starts talking about surprising me and making up for my birthday last year (**I’m confused, why is he telling people this?**)
Chris pulls a small jewelry box out of his pocket… “Holy fuck” (that part was out loud)
Chris gets down on one knee (**…………………**)
Chris asks THE question – “Will you marry me?” (**…………………**)
Donna shouts, “Make him sweat!!” while I sit there, rendered completely speechless
Chris still down on one knee … “I suppose” … **Nervous laughter** … “Yes.”
Can’t say I was expecting that to happen! Then or ever, necessarily, even though he’d claimed he was going to someday. Holy fuck, someday came really fast! But back to the story…
I didn’t say “NO” or “ARE YOU SURE?” – those were the only two responses I’d previously been informed I wasn’t allowed to provide. “Holy fuck”, making him sweat, and “I suppose” were NOT on the list! Video does exist, but WordPress will not allow me to upload the hilarity. Thanks, Israel, for forever preserving that memorable night.
Well, there you have it – I flew to Peru “single” and came back engaged. Biggest surprise I never expected. How I never found the ring prior, I have no idea (it was apparently just sitting in a drawer of his nightstand, which I clean regularly). Anyway, that was followed by dinner (deliciousness was again prepared by our talented chefs). The next surprise (not quite as heart-stopping as the first)… a birthday cake made by a Peruvian porter/chef in a pot using a propane tank in a pristine valley of the Andes Mountains – it even had my name on it (the cake, not the propane tank). Unforgettable day.
We have since finished the Inca Trail, traveled home, and begun planning a wedding. We have settled on June 2018 in Bled, Slovenia. Who doesn’t want to get married in a villa nestled in a small, lakeside town in the Julian Alps. After which, we along with our few guests will travel by boat to a chapel atop on a tiny island in the middle of aforementioned lake to ceremoniously ring a church bell. All of this prior to retiring to a castle precariously perched on a cliff above the lake for a four-course meal. Weddings are supposed to be serene and romantic, aren’t they? All at a fraction of the cost of a wedding in the States, similarly awesome or completely atrocious.
Bled…………
