by: Danny and (Irene)

I started planning and thinking of ways to propose for about a year before I "popped the question." I had some helpful inputs from a few buddies of mine and from my own devious mind.

It was April 2008, my spring break. I was visiting Irene in the Big Apple. I tried hard to keep my plans on the D.L. There were a few close slips, but in the end she had no idea what I was planning.

I told Irene that I really wanted to go to Central Park and that we should walk around and eat there. She didn't know this, but I made reservations to this fancy restaurant, Tavern on the Green, about a week before I went to visit her in N.Y. (I had suspicions about him proposing being that we went to such a nice spot for lunch but it had completely left my mind by the time we were done.)

After we enjoyed a nice, expensive meal at the Tavern I asked her if she wanted some ice-cream to throw her off from thinking that I was going to propose. (He knows my one true weakness....sugar. I would never turn down ice-cream!)

I wanted to take her to a deserted area in the park to propose to get away from the crowd. However, she didn't want to cooperate. She kept asking me, "why are we walking over there?" and "why are we walking in this dirt?" I think she really just want to sit somewhere and eat her ice cream. (I really had no idea what he was thinking making us walk all that way. He led us through a dirt path only to realize that the area we had spotted was fenced off. All I wanted to do was eat my ice-cream.I suggested sitting on one of the many benches along the bike path, but he was resistant for some reason.)

Finally, I just took her to the nearest bench that we saw. It just happened to be inside a children's playground. I wanted to move to the furthest end and away from the crowd, but of course, she didn't want to. (Our ice-cream was melting by this point; I just wanted to stop at the nearest available spot.) So, we sat among a bunch of nannies and kids running around.

I tricked her first by deliberately saying that I had a surprise for her and then giving her some of her favorite chocolates. Then I said that I had another surprise, and it was stuck in my pocket for a while as I struggled to get the ring out of my pocket. (The fumbling with the pocket had me suspicious at this point, but I didn't want to get too excited so I glanced away.)

I got on my knees, told her that God knew we were perfect for each other when He brought us together on that fateful night at Century Club and popped the question. (I don't remember much of what he said but I remember thinking how happy I was in that moment. I got teary-eyed but the kids screaming in the background probably distracted me from a full out cry. I couldn't believe he had the ring on him the entire weekend up until that moment. He did great!) And the rest is history. (The end.)