The Proposal
Friday, February 19, 2016 was an average work day. Around midday I got a text from Randy saying that he's getting off work early and he has "a plan" for the evening. Eager to find out what Randy's mysterious plan might be, I Googled all the events happening in Oakland that night. The only cool things happening were a sold out concert and a free comedy burlesque show at a local bar, so I figured the surprise date night wasn't going to be that magical after all.
Randy picked me up from work and took me to the Morcom Rose Garden to do some night photography (a hobby of his that I dabbled in during the early part of our relationship). I wandered around the moonlit garden while Randy set up. He had me sit down on the fountain in front of the camera while he ran around behind me waving a flashlight in circles at the camera. That combined with a long exposure is called 'light graffiti' and the result is luminescent neon writing or pattern.
Randy called me over to check out the picture he'd taken, but when he hit playback, it wasn't the picture from that night - it was a picture from years ago. He continued to scroll through his camera, but with each click was a sentimental reminder of a moment in our long history together. The odd thing was that all the pictures were taken by different people and different cameras, so I knew it couldn't be a happy coincidence. Finally, he stopped. It was the picture he had just taken of me. There I was, stoic, unassuming, and completely unaware that right above me Randy had written the question "Marry me?"
He got down on one knee, said a lot of wonderful things, and pulled out a pristine engagement ring. Without hesitation, I said "yes!" Now here we are over one year later (and 8 years into our relationship) about to get married and celebrate with YOU!