I wondered if Jacob had talked to my parents while they were in town for my brother’s wedding, but I also knew that they would be back in 2 weeks to bring my baby brother down to San Diego for his Freshman year of college, so he could potentially wait until that weekend to talk with them. Either way, the weekend they brought Stephen down for college would probably be the weekend he would propose! It was perfect. My whole family would be in San Diego, I would get to go back to school with a ring on my finger, and we would have the whole school year to plan a wedding. I knew that if it wasn’t this weekend, the proposal wouldn’t be for another few months and I were both eager to get engaged… Waiting a few more months wouldn’t make sense!

I had it all figured out.

So, it didn’t surprise me that he wanted to take me on a “special date” that Saturday. I put on my favorite black dress, tied a bow in my hair, and wore the pearls he had gotten me for our 1 year anniversary. I didn’t let myself consciously think it, but subconsciously I knew this would be the outfit I would get engaged in. He called saying he was ready to go, so I walked downstairs, ready for the best night of my life. When I got to the car, though, he didn’t get out to open my door. He just sat in the driver’s seat waiting for me. Maybe he didn’t see me coming. You see, Jacob is a gentleman at heart. He had always opened my doors, always let me enter a room first, and always walked on the street side of the sidewalk. (He still does all of these things.) When I got in the car he said, “Wow. You’re fancy.” He was wearing a purple t-shirt and jeans. Not exactly what I had in mind for our proposal photos. Hopefully he knows I want him to hire someone to photograph this! The moment the thought came to my mind, was the moment I realized I had just went into diva mode and I needed to snap out of it this instant. I decided in this moment to send all of my expectations out the window. He had a plan and it would be perfect. I might as well just enjoy the ride.

We drove to downtown, parked, and got in line to buy tickets for the ferry to Coronado. How sweet! We went on this exact date when we were first dating! He’s re-creating it. I felt like we were buying tickets to the rest of our lives, as if this was the moment it was all beginning. When the cashier handed us our tickets we grabbed hands and walked excitedly to the ferry. The ride was beautiful. The summer was coming to an end so the warmth of the day was still lingering, but the ocean air made it cool enough to snuggle up. We didn’t talk much at all on the ride. I just enjoyed the quiet, assuming he was running through his plans for the next hour in his mind.

When we landed in Coronado I wondered if it would happen before dinner, or if we would be headed for Il Fornaio right away. We went there on the date he was recreating and had been there many times since when I lived in Pasadena area. We started walking around, seemingly aimlessly, until he finally asked, “What do you want for dinner?” I was instantly annoyed. “Umm… I’m happy to do whatever you have planned for us.” He thought for a second and then answered, “Well, you’re dressed for Il Fornaio but the pizza place is cheaper.” Cheaper?? Really? This isn’t like you to worry about which one is cheaper, especially on the night we’re getting engaged! Now I was just hurt. Had he really not planned where we should eat?  “Whatever you want, sweetheart.” He jokingly responded, “Okay, the fish place sounds good.” I didn’t laugh. He did. “I am just kidding! Let’s do Il Fornaio!” I lit up. He was so smart! He must have planned this all along because he didn’t want to seem to obvious.

The next 2 hours were beautiful. We had a table by the window, the one you get when you make reservations weeks in advance, and we just smiled the whole way through dinner. He was being his usual sweet, funny self, and I was in heaven. At the end of dinner I felt bad for being such a drama queen. The truth was, I just wanted to be engaged, to be able to say that we were going to be together forever. As we left the restaurant I realized what was coming next.

This was it.

The date had been beautiful, my family was surely hiding nearby, and I was about to get engaged! I felt like skipping or dancing or something. I felt so young and excited, like this was my last moment to be silly and enjoy being a girl.

We walked and talked and I laughed and I tried not to think about what was coming, but I couldn’t help it. The moments that followed would truly make this a “special date”, but that’s for next week’s Little Love Story.

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