The Proposal

Sam: I really had no clue David was going to propose. I mean, we’d talked about marriage before, and I’d even shown him pictures from InStyle of what kind of rings I liked, but the timing and how it actually happened came as a complete shock. It was September 12, and I had just bound and distributed my dissertation for my committee the day before. I was exhausted but triumphant, and we'd planned to go to Disneyland to celebrate my having finished. As a special treat, we were staying in the Disneyland Hotel, which I'd always wanted to do as a child. The day was fun, but I was a bit haggard and conked out even before the park closed at 8:00. Back in the room, I could barely muster the energy to shower and change for dinner at the resort's steakhouse. Thank goodness I finally did since before the evening was through a lot of people were focused on me!

David: I had been planning the proposal for about three months before the event happened, waiting for Samantha to finish her dissertation. A few days after she finished we headed for Disneyland to celebrate. The day at Disney was of course fun, yet I had the stress of determining what and how I was going to say that night, plus the worries of hiding the ring. After the struggle to get Samantha out of the room and to the restaurant, I had the bad luck of getting a table I felt was all wrong for the proposal .

Sam: David was acting really funny when we got to the Granville Steakhouse. Not only was he complaining about the table (which he never does) but his comments about it were odd; the table was "too long" and "not very romantic." All I could think about was getting my hands on some bread, though I saw his point about the romantic part. When David requested another table, the restaurant was peculiarly accommodating when you consider we had no reservation and they were full, and though it took a while, they moved us. While we were waiting, David suddenly became very soft and squishy, and kept gazing at me and holding my hand. I thought it was sweet that he was "having a moment," but I was still pretty focused on getting some bread. When we sat down at the new table, David exclaimed, "Oh, good, this one is much shorter!" which was strange but not remarkable enough to arouse my suspicions. The waitress appeared with a loaf and some butter, and we ordered salads and two glasses of wine. The wine arrived almost immediately; it was delicious, and I started feeling much better. David asked if he could remove the butter, as it was getting on his nerves. This was also odd, but since I wasn’t using the butter I didn’t protest. He later told me he was afraid of dragging his sleeve through it when he reached across the table for my hand.

David: With the wine in our hands I decided to make a toast. The toast was to Samantha and the success for completing her dissertation, and to how beautiful she looked tonight, and to how much I loved her. I guess this was one of my better toasts as Samantha seemed quite moved saying that this was the nicest toast that any one had ever given her. At this point I had completely thrown out all the proposal plans I had made during our day at Disney. So totally winging it I said "In that case I would like to make another toast, and that is to you becoming my wife." I then reached into my pocket and removed the little box containing the ring. I removed the ring from its box and placed it on Samantha’s finger.

Sam: It all happened so fast, I didn’t even react for a moment. I was still experiencing my feelings about David’s sweet toast, and then suddenly he was saying the word "wife," and it wasn’t exactly a question so I think I made a weird face. The face didn’t have time to settle before I saw the box coming out of David’s pocket and then this incredible ring coming out of the box. David slid it on my finger and I just started crying from surprise and happiness. We were both crying and laughing and holding hands and I think I said "I can’t wait to become your wife" or something like that. It was at least a couple of minutes before I even looked down at the ring, and I said "This ring is so beautiful, and way…too…big." It had occurred to me while I was speaking that the ring was loose enough to fall right off if I tipped my hand. David had thought my ring size was 7, but it was actually 5 and a half. Suddenly our salads arrived and, feeling like I was in a movie, I told the waitress, "Look! I just got engaged!" She admired my ring, and then the couple seated behind us started congratulating us, too. It turned out they were visiting the Granville Steakhouse for their second anniversary; they had honeymooned at Disneyland and eaten there then. I put the ring back in the box so I could eat my salad (even though my appetite was gone) because I didn’t want to lose it. Apparently this worried a table of businessmen who had seen the whole thing and thought maybe I had said no! They stopped by later and one of them said "So did you say yes?" "I said yes!" I reassured them, and they all cheered. The manager came out to congratulate us and the waitress brought us cheesecake with a candle and chocolate-covered strawberries. I felt like an instant celebrity!

David: The whole event was far more thrilling and emotional then I could have imagined. We were both on a high for ages, retelling of the experience to anyone who cared. It wasn’t until a few days later when I acknowledged that I hadn’t really asked a question; then I asked Samantha "The answer was yes, wasn’t it?"