Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Proposal (Plan C): from Eliot's perspective.

4:00 am: I woke up, gathered a flashlight, my Bible, a Starbucks gift card (donated by Doreen Sigman) my medicine, a blanket and pillow, and the ring. I put all of these items in a backpack, except the ring of course, which went in my back pocket for safe keeping and easy access.

4:45 am: I called Paula. who woke up (barely), answered the phone and offered a rather gruff "Good morning". I asked her if she would be willing to come pick me up and take me somewhere to get out of the house and out of bed, which I had been laying in for 4 days straight (herniated L5S1, don't ask... it sucks). Paula nearly unintelligibly responded with "Really? Can't I just go back to bed for like 10 more minutes?", to which I agreed.

4:59 am: I called her back in 9 minutes and after much coaxing she got out of bed and came to my house. While she was on the way we agreed (I say "agreed", but this was all part of my scheme) to go to Goulds Inlet on St. Simon's Island and watch the sunrise. This would be a nice break from my bed, beautiful scenery, local territory, and a very special place for Paula and I.

5:30 am: Paula arrived at my house. I grabbed the previously prepared backpack, double checked my pocket for the ring, and limped to meet her in the driveway. We kissed, and off we went, Paula was none the wiser.

5:50 am: We arrived at Goulds Inlet, I checked to make sure that the pier was not occupied by early morning fishermen, spread out our blanket and we promptly laid down (at this point my back was fairly ailing). It was a low tide and the water was calm. The sun would not rise until 6:40 am EST.

6:30 am: I asked Paula if she would be willing to take a short walk on the beach with me (emphasis on short). She gladly took my hand and we headed down the beach to where I had asked her if she would be my girlfriend (nearly 11 months ago). We stopped, I hesitated for a moment, took both her hands in mine and gave a speech about commitment, love, TITLES, etc...

6:45 am: I then swiftly took to one knee, pulled the box out of my back pocket and opened it to reveal the ring. Looking up, I said to a then drop-jawed girlfriend, " Paula Faulkenberry, would you do me the great honor of being my wife... will you marry me?" Obviously, she said yes, and the rest is history.

THE WHOLE THING WAS PERFECT.

-Eliot VanOtteren

Oh yeah... the sunrise was awesome as well. Scroll down for pictures!

1 comment:

iRevolution said...

Your words are perfect.