Sunday, November 9, 2008

Engaged!!

Alright, straight to the details. I originally planned for this to happen two weeks earlier up in Berkeley, but the small problem was I didn't have the ring yet. It arrived this last Friday, so I had to plan quickly, especially since Barb was on call until Tuesday.


My plan was to do the "popping" at the Stand on a Sunday night. Yes, it's a hamburger place, but we love their patio and it's a great place to end the week with Jazz from the Nathan Duncan Trio. I had gotten an email that this was their last performance of the season, so it had to be tonight, even with the cold winds blowing.

We went with my parents because I really wanted them to witness it. Of course, my mom has been prepping since the ring arrived so she's been on red alert with a camera ever since. I played it cool throughout dinner, but I had meant to call Barb's sister Grace first, so I was looking to slip away. Sure enough she called Barb before I could get out of my chair.

While they were talking about thanksgiving, I motioned to Barb that we were ready to leave. So while we were walking out, I asked Barb if I could talk to Grace. We stopped and I asked her if I had her blessing in marrying her sister. While I was talking to Grace, Barb was tearing up, but she still didn't get that I was going to propose to her. Then I told Grace if she would mind if I proposed to Barbara now. Grace said yes and I went down on one knee and Barb said yes.

To be honest, I had no idea what was going on around me at the time. The band was playing and people were dancing, but they were in just as much shock as Barbara. After they finished playing their song, they called us over and we had a few words with the band and the audience. Strangely enough, the next song they played was "moon river", which was prominently being played the night before while watching Breakfast at Tiffany's.

There was a gentlemen there that was video taping the band's set, so once I get the video I'll upload it, but below is a video of them playing this venue at an earlier time.

Some Live Jazz


I'm very happy how the evening unfolded and am very fortunate to have someone as special as Barbara to spend the rest of my life with.