By the time Monique and I had gone out for a few months, our conversations had turned to discussions of "if we got married" and then "when we get married." We were even wandering around malls, looking at jewelry stores just to "get ideas." She loaned me a ring of hers so I'd have the right ring size. LOL These were not subtle hints I was receiving. I hadn't proposed yet, but it was a formality; it was clear this was the direction we were heading.
If the proposal was a formality, I recognized it was still an important one. Monique made sure I understood - when I was ready to propose, she "hoped that it would be a surprise and memorable." I didn't have to be Doctor Phil to figure what that meant. LOL
Making a proposal memorable isn't too difficult, not if you have any measure of creativity. However . . . how the hell can I make it a surprise when she knows it's coming? This was my challenge.
I thought about this for a few weeks. I discussed it with my confidants and adopted sisters Leah and Cheryl. I had a couple different ideas in mind, but one evening at the dance lesson I realized how I could still surprise her.
You may already know that soon after Monique and I began dating we started doing country dance lessons. Our first lesson was the East Coast Swing, and the first song we danced to was Mustang Sally. The next lesson was the Country Waltz and the very first song we waltzed to was Could I Have This Dance For the Rest of My Life? by Anne Murray. That night Monique told me how much she loved that song and that she'd always wanted to dance it with someone who was special in her life.
I had made a mental note of her comment at the time. While we were at a lesson one evening her comment came back to me - and I knew what I had to do. I would propose in the middle of a dance lesson, right there on the dance floor in front of everyone, and we would dance to that song.
As I thought about this, my idea grew larger and larger. I was going for maximum romantic and surprise impact here . . . this would take a lot of planning and coordination. Fortunately, Monique believed that the ring I wanted to get - the one she had hinted at that she liked - would take a lot of saving for me to afford. This bought me some time to put this operation together. And so I got to work.
The first thing I had to do was to talk to Anne Murray.
Copyright 2013 Jeff and Monique