Our Engagement

K proposed on a weekend trip to Key West, FL. He surprised me with the weekend getaway, but it didn't strike me as suspicious for two reasons. First, we had just finished moving that week and we needed the getaway after all that packing and dealing with movers, etc. Second, K is always pulling romantic stunts like this, one of the innumerable reasons why I love him.

The drive down to the Keys took two hours. During the ride down we kept each other entertained with our usual banter. We laughed at the different Key names: Vaca Key, Jewfish Key...I fed him Baked Lays while he drove. We sang along with the radio and finally tuned it to the classical station when we couldn't take our tone deaf singing anymore. K had brought some fruit rollups and we tried to dye our tongues different colors by holding the fruit rollups in our mouths as long as possible.


Finally, we reached our hotel, the Southernmost Hotel on the Beach. It was beautiful! We had a view of the beach and the ocean and a private balcony. We threw our stuff in the room and immediately ran downstairs and rented bikes. We rode our bikes up and down Duval Street and then locked up our bikes and went into Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville for lunch. K had a cheeseburger, because he insisted on eating a "cheeseburger in paradise".

After lunch we biked over to the Conch Train Depot and took the Conch Train Tour. The tour was nice and relaxing. At one point the tour guide began talking about how the Keys was the "Conch Republic" and the local high school cheerleaders were called the "Conchettes". Except over the loudspeaker it sounded more like "cock" than "conch" so K and I were overcome with a fit of the giggles.


Eventually, we abandoned the tour group and rode our bikes back to the hotel. When we got back to the hotel, they were setting up for a wedding on the beach. I was immediately absorbed in the wedding, and we sat out on our balcony eating fudge and watching the wedding preparations. K suggested we go down to the pier and watch the sunset. I reluctantly agreed. We went out to the end of the pier and sat wrapped in each other's arms. But I was impatient and antsy. I wanted to see the wedding. So K obliged and we stood by and watched the wedding procession. Appeased, I agreed to go back to the pier, but now it was thronged with people so K suggested going back to the room and watching the sunset from our balcony.

As soon as we got in the room K surprised me with a big bear hug. Then he pulled back and asked me how much I loved him. I answered honestly that I loved him more than I had words to express. He smiled and asked if I wanted to know how much he loved me. I said yes. So he went down on one knee and pulled a small box out of his pocket and asked, "Will you marry me?"

I know it's a cliche, but I started to cry. I immediately shouted, "Yes K, I'll marry you!" And then collapsed in a fit of happy giggles and we hugged and hugged. Tomorrow it will be one week since we got engaged. I've been smiling ever since.