Enter Chris, the handsome, funny, kind-hearted, sweet, faithful, fun-loving, athletic man I had always dreamed of. It had to have been our third or fourth date when he asked me where I wanted to get married. Maybe I hadn't thought THAT far ahead, but I definitely knew where I wanted to get engaged. I explained to him my dream of a Rockefeller Center proposal at Christmas time under the biggest and brightest tree there is. I thought nothing else of it from then forward.
Fast forward a year and a half, and we're spending the Christmas holidays with my parents in New Jersey. We had plans to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular the day after Christmas, and so decided to spend the day with my parents (and eventually my sister) in the city. I got passes for my family to visit the World Trade Center Memorial, after which we'd swing by the tree, go have a nice dinner, and then go to the Christmas Spectacular. As we approached Rockefeller Center, I realized what I hadn't thought of - THE MASSES OF PEOPLE. Add the unexpected chaos along with the cold temps and my growling stomach, and this girl was just NOT having it! Still... it was Christmas, at Rockefeller Center, with the man of my dreams and my sweet parents.
We decided to wander a few feet away from the crowd and try to take a few pictures in front of the tree. There were so many people around it was making it quite difficult. I was annoyed, to say the least (yes, I realize now how much of a brat I was being!), when my mom stopped to take photos for other people while Chris and I were standing there ready with (forced?) smiles (on my part) and shivering hands.
My parents finally positioned themselves, my dad with the digital SLR and my mom with her phone - I figured she just wanted photos both ways. I - again, in my brathood - questioned my parents' use of the devices. My mom was so much better with the camera, after all. Little did I know the secret my sweet Chris and patient parents were all in on. So, after I forced my parents to switch cameras, I turned back to my right and no one was standing there anymore. I looked down... there he was with rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes, the most handsome man in the world in a charcoal grey peacoat .. on one knee... with a little black velvet box... with the most gorgeous ring I had ever seen in my life... and the most hopeful loving of expressions.
I immediately turned back to my parents, my mouth gaping open, and the only words that escaped me were ones of shock: "Are you kidding me? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!"
I turned back to the man who was about to promise to give me the world, and my hands immediately flew open my still gaping mouth and the tears filled my eyes and all I could see was him. In that moment, New York City stopped. We owned it. I took in the world around me, the cameras flashing from other Rockefeller Center patrons, the whispers, "They look so young!" and "They're getting engaged!!", and I finally focused back on the man of my dreams making my engagement dream come true.
I really couldn't tell you all he said in that moment (aside from key phrases like "best friend," "the best thing that's ever happened to me," and "will you marry me?"), but I knew my answer. I loved this man with everything inside of me, trusted him with my life, and could not imagine a single moment of the rest of forever without him by my side.
So I, of course, said yes. And I hugged him and kissed him and just couldn't let go.
You would not believe the clapping that erupted around us; the congratulations and photo offers from those who had captured our special moment. I will never forget the kindness of those strangers emailing us our engagement photos; one stranger whom has become a friend, and her photo has become our most treasured and hangs as a canvas print in our home.
My sweet parents had known all along this moment was coming, so they were prepared to take photos (my dad with the digital SLR) and record the moment (my mom with the video camera on her phone). In all of my bratty glory, I made my parents switch devices and my dad didn't get a chance to video record the moment. I know it's my fault, and I feel bad, but I can't help but think that moment will be best remembered without video proof. The watching and re-watching of our engagement story could never live up to the feelings in that very moment.
I found out after the engagement that my dad had given him a hard time of the subway earlier that day. I had been separated from Chris and my parents in the the chaos that was the-day-after-Christmas in NYC, and they were about 5 or 6 feet and 20 people away from me. My dad asked Chris what he was going to do if I said no. Talk about sweating bullets! I love my dad, and I love this handsome man of mine!
We've been married for three months now, it's been 10+ months since our engagement, and that moment is still as clear as it was on December 26, 2011. Chris made my girlhood engagement Christmas dream come true, and that is one thing I will never ever be able to thank him enough for.
