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The Proposal
(From the Bride’s Perspective)
Ryan and I got
engaged in Lake Como, Italy. Lake Como is the
most romantic and beautiful place I have ever
been. I kept a journal as we traveled all
around Italy, and here is the journal excerpt I
wrote the night Ryan proposed…
Day 13 – July
18, 2007
“Today started out like any
normal day of our trip. We woke up, had
breakfast, and then visited the towns of Varenna
and Bellagio. In Varenna, we had a delicious
lunch (with brushetta, of course) out by the
lake. In Bellagio, we window-shopped and
explored a beautiful 5-star hotel called ‘The
Grand Villa Serboloni’. It was spectacular!
Maybe one day, when we are oh-so rich (haha),
we’ll stay there.
We came back sweaty, as usual (God forbid we go
a day without sun block and sweat), and went in
the pool. We swam a bit, with the lake as our
picturesque background, and leisurely laid out
for a couple hours. Then we returned to the
room to wash up for dinner. So at this point
the day had been turning out fairly normal
(although relaxing days certainly weren’t the
norm on this trip), but normal though right?
Wrong! The events of the evening turned this
day into anything but normal. Rather it became
a day I will never forget for the rest of my
life! Here’s what happened…
So we decided to walk further into the city of
Menaggio to find a restaurant to eat at. It was
a peaceful walk and we felt adventurous. During
our walk we came upon this cute mini-golf course
that we agreed to come back to after dinner.
(Who would have thought there was mini-golf on
Lake Como? Not me!) After a little exploration,
we settled on a cute place overlooking the lake
that was all lit up by candles and Tiki
torches. The setting was perfect for a calm,
romantic dinner. I had a tasty white fish and
Ryan got beef. We were both very satisfied as
we chatted over glasses of wine and looking out
on the beautiful, tranquil lake surrounded by
the Alps. I can’t even describe how at peace I
was just staring out over the lake with wine in
one hand and Ryan’s hand in the other. I
remember thinking that it was the quintessential
perfect evening. Little did I know that it was
going to become even more perfect.
After our wonderful dinner, we grabbed some
yummy gelato and headed to the mini-golf
course. The course was tan and rubberized,
which I thought was interesting. Ryan taught me
how to have a ‘proper’ golf stance, which he
later regretted as I beat him with a hole-in-one
on the 18th hole (he got a 4 on that
one, by the way).
It was amazing! Ryan took it fairly well for
him and overall we had a blast.
As we walked back towards our hotel, I teased
him about his crushing loss and we laughed about
the night’s events. Ryan asked if I wanted to
sit down on a bench for a little, but I told him
that I had to go to the bathroom (typical me).
He responded with, ‘Let’s just sit down for a
minute’. Reluctantly I sat down on a bench
(there were these cute benches in these little
gardens lining the lake). The view from the
bench was stunning as the water reflected the
moon and you could see the lights on in the
towns across the lake, like sprinklings of stars
in an ebony sky. We sat for a second and then I
started getting attacked by some mosquitoes so
Ryan offered that we move down a couple
benches. So we did. After we sat for a second
time, I began to notice a change in Ryan’s
behavior. He became very conscious of anything
and everything around us. He started looking
left and right for people and even stared down a
car that turned left on the street behind us. I
wondered what his issue was, but didn’t say
anything. I continued to stare out onto the
wide expanse of the lake, which Ryan kept
staring around with eyes wide open. Finally,
Ryan broke the silence. He said some incredibly
sweet and endearing words to me. Surprised by
his sudden outburst of affection, I responded by
pinching his cheek and saying, ‘Oh, my cute,
corny boyfriend.’ (Later I realized that was
probably not the response he was looking for.
haha)
Ryan just sat there eyes wide and deep in
thought. The look in his eye told me something
was about to happen, but I didn’t believe it
until he stood up and got down on one knee.
Immediately my hands flew to my face as I
repeatedly cried out, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh
my God!’ I was completely in shock. Barely
hearing a word he was saying, Ryan took out a
little black box and revealed a gorgeous diamond
ring. To which I oh so eloquently replied, ‘Oh
my God, oh my God, oh my God!’ Then…Ryan
proposed! He said, ‘Kristen, will you marry
me?’ I yelled, ‘Of course!’ and gave him a huge
hug. I looked at the ring and remarked on how
beautiful it was. I also mentioned how adorable
the box was because it had a light inside it to
show off the ring in the night. Ryan told me to
remain focused on the ring, though, not the box.
Ryan took the ring out and went to slide it on
my finger. When the ring came to my knuckle, it
came to grinding halt. My finger was too
swollen from the heat. Like Cinderella’s ugly
stepsister, I was determined to get it on so I
squeezed into it. It was worth it because the
ring was absolutely beautiful. After it was on,
Ryan sat down next to me looking rather
relieved, might I add. I turned to him and told
him that I didn’t hear what he had said to me
before he popped the question because I was too
busy yelling, ‘Oh my God!’ I asked him to tell
me again, which made his jaw drop and eyes pop
out of his head. I begged and he replayed his
whole 3-month prepared speech for me. After he
was done, I gave him a huge hug while the tears
fell from my eyes. I could not believe that I
was engaged. Ryan wiped my tears and then told
me that he had expected more tears (knowing my
overactive tear duct syndrome and all). I told
him that I was in such shock that I just didn’t
think it had all fully hit me. We sat there
looking at the ring and smiling at each other.
Then we said good-bye to “our” bench and went to
find payphones to call our parents.
When my mom answered the phone, I yelled, ‘I’m
engaged!’ The second I said it, the tears
started gushing. It finally hit me. I was
getting married…ahhh!!! My mom was so excited.
I told my brother, Justin, and he was thrilled
for us. Then my mom conferenced in Tato (my
grandpa), who immediately guessed why I was
calling. Then Ryan called his parents, but our
phone card began to run out. After 2 minutes,
he left them with a cliff-hangar and told them
to call us back at our room.
As we headed back to the hotel I started
shouting with glee, ‘I’m engaged!’, but the
passerbyers only looked at me like I was some
psycho American girl. (If I was in America,
they would have applauded. Oh well.) We
stopped for some celebratory wine and were able
to finally get our message across to the Italian
workers at the café. They gave us cheek kisses
and cried, ‘Belissimo!’
When we got
back to the hotel we told Ryan’s parents and
they were so excited. They mentioned to me how
much time Ryan had put in to getting my ring,
which was really sweet. We spent the rest of
the night drinking our wine and talking. Ryan
told me everything and the whole trip became
clear. We agreed to return to “our” bench in
the morning and take pictures. The scene would
not be the same but at least we would capture
where the next chapter of our lives began. We
went to bed on cloud nine! |
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