 | The Hamster Dance awoke me at 9:05 the morning of December 13th. Bonni had left 30 minutes earlier to go to the dentist... or so I thought. Next to my blaring phone was an envelope that said, "Open Me." The letter wrote, "Take no more than 20 minutes to get up and dressed. Then go to your car for further instructions." I feverishly got dressed and ran to my car. On the steering wheel was taped another note: "Read Me." It instructed me to play the CD taped to the dash (which read "Play Me") and to check my mailbox for the next instructions. In the mailbox was another note which directed me to a specific Starbucks nearby. It also said, "Wait for a sign. (P.S. If no sign comes, text, do not call me)" I was also to order something specific with the gift card enclosed, which I had watched Bonni purchase the night before under the ruse that it was a gift "for the really nice lady at the front desk," which I willingly believed given that Bonni is an incredibly sweet and thoughtful person.
Trying not to speed, I drove to the Starbucks. I ordered the chocolate banana smoothie and the woman asked for my name. When I told her she shouted to her coworker,"Hey, where's that thing?" She handed me another letter. This one directed me to drive to the place where we almost got electrocuted. About a year and a half prior, I had taken Bonni to Scott's Run, a trail off of Georgetown Pike that leads to a waterfall. At the time I had hoped it would be romantic, but there were some loud teenagers already there and it began to thunder. Bonni curled her legs up out of the water and told me we were sure to be electrocuted. I continued to swim in the cool pools anyway, hoping to look like a badass (or an idiot, I'm not sure which).
Anyway, I drove like crazy to Scott's Run and parked near the entrance to the trail. On the ground were two red roses. I looked around, expecting to see someone else picking up or dropping the roses, and then decided they HAD to be for me. I gathered them up and continued down the trail. Every 10 or 15 feet were more red and white roses. Grinning from ear-to-ear I picked each one up. I came across a woman pushing a stroller who told me, "You've got quite a way to go." And I did. I collected roses along the path for about 20 minutes, gruelingly climbing the very long, very steep hill toward the waterfall. I was completely out of breath when I reached the top, and down the other side stood Bonni, smiling with at least a dozen more roses in her hands. My heart skipped many beats. Huffing and puffing, I ran down to her and wrapped my arms around her. She asked me to follow her to the water's edge where she had a blanket laid out for us. She handed me a long letter, which I read in a daze (and subsequently had to read over again later). Then she gave me a book of poetry. She had made one online with pictures of us and a lot of her poetry and journal entries earlier that year for Valentine's Day. This was volume 2. I flipped through, scanning the pictures, reading mostly familiar poetry and waiting anxiously. The last page was a picture of my engagement ring (see above!) and "I have something to ask you..." She knelt before me and asked me to marry her. Before she finished the sentence I yelled yes and kissed her. We had some sparking grape juice (it was 11 AM) and smiled and laughed together. It was beyond my wildest dreams, and I felt like the luckiest woman alive. We traveled to Williamsburg for the evening and celebrated with a grand feast at The Kings Arms Tavern. Bonni could not have planned a more perfect day. I relive the excitement boiling up inside me of that day every time I look at her. |
