the proposal
Troy had been planning the proposal since February of 2019! One of his main goals was to make the proposal a complete surprise. He was very successful.
A few weeks before the proposal date (September 6, 2019) Troy had me block off that Friday night. He said that his parents were coming into town from Florida so we were all going to get dinner together that night. So far, everything checks out. A few days before the proposal, he said we were going to pick up his family from the National Mall because they were going to sightsee. Troy graduated high school from Arlington and his sister was in crutches at the time. Why would they want to sightsee now of all times? I said, “Isn’t your sister on crutches?” He goes, “she must be getting better…”. I didn’t think too much of it. A day or so before I tell Troy I’ll just meet everyone at dinner and drive separately since I was coming from something else. He was like “no we should drive together…”
Fast forward to that Friday night, I park my Fiat at our apartment and get out of the car, sweaty and wearing yoga clothes. I had just subbed a TRX Yoga Class. At this point Troy must be thinking great, we are rolling with it. He did give me a heads up about dinner though so I did a complete hair/makeup/outfit transformation in the car on the way to DC. He calls his sister in the car, and she said they were near the Jefferson Memorial so we could pick them up there. She says we can come out and meet them since Grandma wants pictures. So far everything checks out. Of course, Troy’s grandma on the west coast would want family photos while everyone is together.
Troy and I get out of the car and I notice Troy’s outfit. White t-shirt, dark jeans, white sneakers, and his dark hair is slicked back more than normal. I go “you look like a Greaser”. Everything is going great. We walk up towards the water/Jefferson Memorial. The Washington Monument is on the other side of the water. I think about how nice this is, I’d seen the cherry blossoms every year since 2015 but missed them this year and hadn’t been down to this area in a while.
When we get to the water I request that we take selfies. Nice scenery and we don’t usually take selfies. You guys, there are SELFIES from seconds before the proposal.
Troy then turns to me and says “You know, I put a lot of thought into this outfit.”
Amy – “Huh?”
Troy – “I wondered what our kids would say about it.”
Amy – “What?”
Troy – “What they would say about the outfit I propose to you in?”
Amy – “Wait is this a joke?
At this point I pretty much blackout. I immediately start crying and say yes. I later found picture evidence that he did get down on one knee.
I cried a lot that night. Happy tears!
It turns out that Troy’s parents and his sister Nicole were hiding in the bushes around the Jefferson Memorial the whole time. There was also a professional photographer around the memorial to capture the moment!
Troy then told me that we were not actually going to dinner. We were going to Michael Nguyen’s house and our friends were going to be there *insert more tears*. Not only did Troy pull off the surprise of a lifetime, but he planned a surprise engagement party as well!
Is It True That the Ring was Lost Less Than 24 Hours After the Proposal?
Unfortunately yes, I did lose the ring in a Five Guys parking lot the morning after the proposal. The ring was a tad too big and slid off my finger while I was carrying extremely greasy food into the car. Glamorous I know! A few minutes later in the car, I noticed. Troy was on speakerphone with his friend Lance at the time.
Amy – “Where is it?”
Troy – “Where is what?”
Amy – “The ring”
Lance – “Guys is this really happening right now?
“Troy – “Lance we’ll call you back.”
It turns out this was not a bit, so we immediately turned the car around to check the house. It’s an understandably tense car ride. We get back, and Troy starts to systematically search the street, grass, and foliage. I head inside and start tearing apart clothes bins, and every room of the house. Is it possible, did it get flushed down the toilet? Everything and everywhere is a possibility at this point. This exercise is fruitless so we return to the car and head to Five Guys. Not finding the ring really isn’t an option at this point.
We pull up to Five Guys and Troy goes “it’s right there.”
There is the ring, in all of its glory, perfectly catching the sunlight. The ring was on a white divider line of the parking lot at Five Guys. For 45 minutes.
I am so lucky that it didn’t fall into a parking space and get caught in someone tire, to drive throughout the DMV
I have always been convinced that I have both very good and very bad luck to balance things out.