May 2, 2008

Jer came and picked me up from work around 4pm. I was at a VIP reception for work and thought that I needed to get home and change to be back at work for an all-night event. Jer, however, had other plans.

On our drive home, Jer took a 'wrong' turn and took us to our favorite spot near the Adler Planetarium. He told me on our way that he wants to keep me guessing because I knew that the proposal was coming. I'll be honest - I thought for sure that he was going to propose to me on May 3 (the following Saturday) so I believed him that he was just planning a random romantic surprise.

We got out of our car and Jer takes out the most beautiful picnic basket I have ever seen, along with a chest full of two of our favorite bottles of wine from Cooper's Hawk. It was very 'James Bond' of him and I was still un-suspicious (if you can believe that). We had the world's most amazing wine and cheese picnic, and I honestly thought that life couldn't get any better than it was at this moment.

Jer had another surprise up his sleeve. We have an email chain that has been going on since we met called, "Remember When." We write back and forth to each other saying, "Remember when ". At this point I was teary eyed and slightly suspect, but still thought I had to return to work and there was NO way it was happening right now. I asked Jer to go for a walk with me around the lake (there was a thunderstorm rolling across the city that looked amazing).

After our walk, we returned to our picnic and I started to sit down. Jer told me to keep standing as he got down on one knee and asked: "Remember when we came down to our favorite spot and I asked you to be my lover and best friend forever? Will you marry me?" I couldn't wait to say 'yes' and the celebration began!

What couldn't have been more than a minute and a half later, the skies opened up and a beautiful rain began to fall. Instead of running for shelter, though, we just stayed there for awhile.

It was perfect.