The Proposal – His Story

The ring was always with me. At work it sat on my desk and looked at me all day. At home it sat in my bag on the chair across the living room from where Ali and I sit every night. It was a week of torture having it with me and not being able to give it to her.

Every day my mother asked me, “How are you going to ask her? Do you have a plan?” I didn’t. And her asking me every day didn’t help.

The only plan was to ask her on her birthday, unless I could somehow surprise her before. Ali knew what was going on. She’s the world’s greatest detective. Batman, Columbo and Sherlock Holmes rolled into one chick. She couldn’t contain her excitement and all this wedding talk that had become more and more of an everyday topic of conversation went into overdrive.

Before any of this ring stuff came up I had booked reservations for one of Ali’s favorite restaurants, Brennan’s. I had never been, but Ali has a few times and always talks about how awesome it is. During Hurricane Ike there was a fire and the restaurant burned down. They were closed for a few years and finally just re-opened this April. Brennan’s is a Houston establishment so its re-opening was a big deal.

Brennan’s is a high class restaurant, so I knew that the service and food would be impeccable and that this birthday dinner would be amazing for Ali.

She didn’t know where we were going for her birthday dinner, only that I was getting my jacket cleaned and pressed and that I sent her to the mall to get a new dress. She was in heaven. We do occasionally like to get dressed up and go for a night on the town, but I was wearing a tie and had my shirt tucked in. This was fancy to the extreme.

On the night of her birthday as we were getting dressed I asked her if she knew where we were going. She said “I think we’re going to Brennan’s.” See? Batman and shit. The only thing she knew was that we were getting dressed up.

I’m a burger and fries guy, so going to a fancy place like this is a culture shock to me. Ali had some good wine, I had a whiskey and soda and we took everything in, enjoying ourselves and our meal. The way the chairs and tables were set up it was almost like we were in our own private room. The dinner was amazing. The service was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. Every time the wait staff came over they fell over themselves to wish Ali a Happy Birthday. She was glowing, so happy. (Ali may go into more detail about the restaurant and the food because she is better at that.)

All during the meal, Ali kept looking at me, smiling. I knew exactly what she was thinking. “WHERE IS MY RING, MIKE? WHERE IS IT?” And the ring in my pocket was screaming at me “JUST DO IT! GIVE ME TO HER ALREADY!”

But for once I had the power in this relationship. I was going to enjoy the remaining few minutes of it as long as I could and I stretched it out. It’s fun to see Ali squirm sometimes.

After our meal we ordered dessert. Ali got a slice of pecan pie, and they brought it out with a candle on the plate. I told her to make a wish and blow it out.

She wouldn’t tell me what her wish was, because she was afraid it wouldn’t come true.

When she finished her pie I asked her again what her wish was.

“I CAN’T tell you or it won’t come true!”

“Oh,” I said.

Then I stood up, got down on one knee and pulled out the ring. This is exactly how it went down:

“I have a wish. I love you, Ali. Will you marry me?”

“AHHHH! What?”

Yes. She was so excited that she didn’t hear what I said and I had to repeat myself. She was crying and shaking as I put the ring on her finger. A perfect fit (swwiiish). The table next to us (who we overheard were celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary) congratulated us, waiters came up and congratulated us. Our waiter brought over champagne for us.

Ali was crying and couldn’t take her eyes off the ring. She was beaming.

When we left the restaurant we pulled over in a parking lot to call our families. We called our parents first to tell them. Our parents did know, but no one else did. We called my sisters on conference speaker phone so we could tell them both together (I had to call Amy three times to wake her up). We called Ali’s brother and sister.

Ali hasn’t stopped looking at the ring. I catch her staring at it when we are watching TV, or when we are driving somewhere.

She looks at it and smiles so big. I love that. And her.