The Story of My Weekend

Though I anticipated this weekend being filled with lots and lots of boxes and packing, I didn't anticipate it holding one gigundous surprise.

For the past few months Ben and I have been planning secret dates for each other. In the middle of this week he proposed a secret dinner date for Sat. night. Sounded good to me since I knew we'd be spending the day packing and moving stuff.

I was told I needed to be dressed up and that was my only hint. Once in the car last night I asked for some more hints. He said it was a place he'd never been to but wanted to go and it was located southeast of Arlington (so not helpful!). Then he told me there was an advantage that we were going at 6pm instead of 9pm (I know that advantage to be that I won't be a monstrous hungry woman who bites people's heads off, but he implied he meant something else).

We drove into downtown Boston and he soon turned into the parking garage at the Pru. Once we got out of the elevator I had a strong idea that we were going to Top of the Hub

Indeed that was where we were headed. I'd never been there either. The entire restaurant has a panoramic view of the city. We were there early enough that we could see things in daylight (that was the advantage of going early).

Unfortunately, we were told our table wouldn't be available for 20 minutes or so. We went to the bar and hung out. After 15 minutes Ben excused himself to go see how long it would be. He was gone for quite a while (most women might have suspected something at this point, but not me. I was busy entertaining the 4 year old who was waiting outside the men's room for her dad).

Finally we were seated and put in our order. A few moments later our waiter returned and put a dish down in front of me. It had orchids and the top of a small soup tureen. He pulled off the dish and said 'compliments of the chef'....under the top was a black ring box.

I turned to Ben, knowing on some level what was happening and said, so eloquently, "Benjamin Davis, what have you done?"

He took the box and tried to get out of his chair to get down on one knee. He sort of took the chair with him and it almost tipped over. He got it righted and then got back on one knee. To be honest, I have no idea what he said to me, but it was something about loving me with all his heart, that I was everything he could ever want in a woman and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I'm told I said yes, but really, I have no idea what happened. Then he put the ring on my finger, kissed me as I cried and a whole lotta people cheered.

He had also arranged with the florist in the Pru to have a beautiful spring bouquet delivered to the table, so those came next. We then talked a lot about what we mean to each other as we ate dinner, watched the sun set and the night lights of the city come up. It was probably the most memorable night of my life.

Once we left the reataurant, we got into the elevator with 3 older couples who all asked if we'd gotten engaged - they'd seen something happen. We said yes and the women wanted to see the ring* and the men shook Ben's hand. After about 5 minutes of chit chat someone realized that no one (me, since I was standing right next to it) had pressed the button to go down so we were in a completely still elevator. Finally one of the older gentlemen pressed the button and we descended!

*The Ring: The ring we picked out is being made, which is why I was so surprised by his proposal b/c it won't be ready until April. I'd resigned myself to not getting engaged until then. However, his mom gave him the diamond ring his dad gave her the day Ben was born and he used that as a stand in, saying he couldn't wait until April to ask me.