Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Since I haven't blogged in about a month (or reviewed a book on Flannelgraph for that matter-sorry Symz), I decided something had to be done. So there's this cool competition that fiancé & I have entered to win $4,000 worth of Jewelery. It would be the hugest blessing if we won, but I'm not going to count my ducklings. We had to put together the story of how I got proposed to along with some photos. So we employed the'better writer' out of all of us to make it sound way cool and here's what he came up with. Enjoy...

composed by Stephen Garton

Drizzling rain signed the entrance of the weekend, and I stepped outside to face the fourth of April with the underwhelming magnitude of toast and a glass of orange juice on my mind. Don’t get me wrong, today was special; it signified six months marked off the calendar with my best friend and oh-so-much-more-than-that partner, Jason, by my side.

Bayly’s Beach lies somewhere on the cliff-ridden shores of the west coast and certainly is a familiar place for Jason and me, considering we stood sentry to the New Year of two thousand and nine on those very cliffs. Despite the gloomy weather, it was with a light heart that we set out for the short drive north to greet those same cliffs and beach as an effervescent expedition for our anniversary. My brother was with us, and we were to meet Jason’s brother and girlfriend for dinner that night. Oh how naive I was to the intricate plans of what was really going on behind those laughing, innocent eyes of his.

Sparks of familiarity greeted me like old friends when we had lunch at the quaint and only café of the romantic town of Bayly’s Beach. But I wasn’t familiar with the quad ride Jason surprised us with after lunch. And what a ride we had! It blew me away that he was thoughtful enough to consider my childhood memories of quad bike riding on my Uncle’s farm to milk the cows in his circuitous plans. Our laughter was impromptu and contagious as it carried on the same wind that was riffling through our hair; we even spied a seal of all things, washed up on the beach.

I was still just as in the dark, however, when we came back from the ride; still in the dark as we dined at a local restaurant for dinner with his brother and brother’s girlfriend; still in the dark when these two announced to us they had a surprise awaiting us at sunset. Jason’s surprise at this announcement was feigned; mine was as real as the corned beef and mashed potatoes on my plate.

From here things became somewhat of a blur: the blindfolding, the wild-goose-chase drive to mask the fact that we only needed to go thirty seconds up the road; and finally, the long walk up the road, still blindfolded, to the top of the cliffs. What happened after that, however, is still as clear as day.

As the blindfold came off, the first thing I immediately registered was the fiery twilight lighting up mile upon mile of ocean; the water bathing in the soft-coloured light of the recently set sun. I felt Jason’s gentle touch as he reached out and took my own hand in his while he still somehow managed to maintain as much surprise as me. We slowly tread, our footsteps leading us down a path flanked with bamboo lanterns burning to the sweet aroma of citronella; the soft flicker of torches casting a wildly romantic glow, illuminating our rocky path—the moment seemed as beautiful as eternity and my heart leaped with anticipation.

There, at the end of the curving path of flickering torchlight, was something that took my breath away. Suspended from the jutting out cliff face was a wire-frame twisting in two gentle curves leading to a sharp point at the bottom, making it take the unmistakable shape of a heart. The apparatus was ablaze with fire. But, even among all this wonderment, nothing could have possibly prepared me for what was to come next.

The very moment Jason dropped to one knee, I lost all control on my emotions and I was crying in an instant. I was so caught up in the wonder of the moment that I almost forgot to give an approval!

The words tumbled out in a rush before my mind could even process the thought. “You bet I will!” I burst out in my exuberant joy. And the rest, as they like to say, is simply history.