The Proposal

Key West - May 23rd, 2010

It was Sunday morning after breakfast at Croissants du France, and Amber and I were strolling down Duval Street before heading back to Miami. We were checking out various stores along the way, including one particular store - Earthbound Trading Co. - which had caught Amber's eye on the way down to breakfast, so we decided to stop and browse.

Earthbound Trading was your typical trendy tourist gift store and had a wide range of items, everything from clothing and jewelry to beaded curtains to mist making machines. There was even a faux aquarium, but it was a display of framed letters in the back of the store that ultimately caught our attention.

You've no doubt seen similar items in other stores. An individual letter in a stylish font, with bright colors, printed on canvas and framed separately so that you might spell out what ever message struck your fancy.

Several letters were out place, and it wasn't long before Amber - ably assisted by me - was rearranging the letters back into their appropriate spots.

As we moved around the letters, it gave me an idea...

Having alphabetized the display, Amber decided to continue to walk around the store, giving me the opportunity to loiter in the back some more.

As she wandered out of sight, I turned my attention back to the display. It didn't take long for me to arrange the message I wanted, and then all I could do was wait nervously for her to return.

Several times I tried to catch her attention, but five to ten minutes passed before she finally returned to share a discovery she'd made. Meanwhile, other shoppers had passed by the display, all blissfully ignorant of the importance of the arrangement.

Surprisingly, Amber had found a simple ring with inlaid shell, in the shape of a kiwi (that's the bird, not the fruit). She was excited to show me her treasure, and in my mind it seemed as if this perfectly complemented my intentions.

As we looked at the ring, I attempted to draw her attention to the display of letters behind her, and the message I'd left her there. Anxious to get her to look before someone intervened, I finally turned her to face towards the display.

At first, she thought I was showing her that someone had destroyed our alphabetization efforts, but then she noticed the word "marry" and quickly picked out the rest of the message.

She turned back to me and all she could say was "Are you serious?"

After confirming my intentions verbally (I deliberated whether or not to get down on my knee) she threw her arms around my neck and accepted.

Before leaving the store, we decided to buy some of the letters as well as the kiwi ring to mark the occasion.