The Proposal

On Sunday mornings we often eat breakfast together. We like our breakfasts savory and greasy. That day I made bacon, eggs, and garlic potatoes like my dad makes. We had time before church at 12:30 to go on a walk. Patrick suggested Murray Park. I’m not ever opposed to Murray Park. It’s my favorite. It’s littered with trees and rushing streams, and filled with ducks and geese.

It was a sunny, chilly morning, perfect for a walk. I wasn’t looking too nice. I had my hair up in ugly curled buns (so I could take them out for church later). I had no makeup on yet. I put on my skinny jeans and a black KISS shirt. I can’t remember if I was wearing my gray jacket or my Disneyland jacket. Anyway, when I say I wasn’t looking cute, that’s probably understating my general frumpiness.

When we got there, we stopped and looked at a duck family with two babies. We passed by a large Asian group having a church service in one of the reserved areas. We walked up and around to the right in a counterclockwise circle as we always do. We took our time going around the park.

We stopped on several bridges to watch the water. One bridge we stood on for an especially long time because we were watching two duck families. They had 6-8 ducklings with them and kept trying to find a place on the side of the creek to stop and not have to fight the current. We took lots of pictures and just enjoyed watching them.

At one point we walked near the white gazebo, and I told him I’d like to get engagement pictures taken at Murray Park. It’s where we met, after all, and it’s so pretty and green. We spent a little time trying to figure out where the farmers’ market was hosted when we met but couldn’t come to a consensus. I remembered us sitting on a shaded hill after he bought some cherries, but there was no shade where I thought the farmers market was. It’ll forever remain a mystery where we sat that day in August 2012.

It was finally time for us to start heading back to the car to get changed and ready for church. When we got to the parking lot, Patrick started walking around with me to my side of the car. I was confused. I assumed he was going to open my door for me even though I was driving. Instead, he pulled my arm back a little bit, not allowing me to get in the car.

He said, “Well, I’m not leaving here without doing this. And I didn’t get on my knee the first time, so I’m not making that mistake again.”

He got down on his knee in the gravelly parking lot, with sweat speckling his head and face (due to nervousness or warmer temps, we will never know). He looked up at me and told me in a shaky voice that I make him want to be better, that he is better, because of me. He said he wants to spend his life with me, and asked me to marry him. He kind of fumbled through it like he had forgotten some things he wanted to say; could tell he was nervous.

Of course, I said yes. A car that was on the other side of the parking lot decided to take a detour to exit so they could circle by us to witness what had just happened.

Patrick explained to me that he had wanted to propose a number of times IN the park, but that people kept on coming by, ruining his opportunity.

I’m totally fine with it though because I think there’s something very charming and sweet and last-minute desperate about a parking lot proposal. I love how it happened and am grateful I get to marry this man. 

We realized in the car it was 5-10-15, which I liked just because of the sequence. But he realized it was also a palindrome date--it reads the same back and forward. Pretty nifty.

Now, before everyone starts harassing me about a date (which everybody does), I'll just say we are shooting for late August. We had a date, but due to circumstances out of our control, we now have to postpone. It's been pretty stressful and frustrating for me, so I'd appreciate you all holding off asking about a date. I will let you all know when I do!