WHEN IT HAPPENED
12.21.10
HOW IT HAPPENED
Nace and I were on Christmas vacation with my family in New York City. We were around the central park area at 12:30p but had run out of things to do. I suggested going about a mile south towards Time Square and visiting the Empire State Building. Once we got there my mom asked if we wanted to wait and do it at night, but since no one spoke up (and I am stubborn) I said we should go ahead and go. So once we got inside and saw there was no line, we paid and headed up to the 80th floor only to find out there was a huge line...Nace started acting really weird, grumpy and flustered and wouldn't let me hold his hand. Since this was out of character for him, and I couldn’t have possibly done anything wrong standing in that long line, I began getting frustrated and wondering what was going on. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me that he thought he would be okay, but now that we were 80 stories high he was really uneasy and afraid of heights. I reluctantly said okay, not knowing him to be scared of anything, and walked through the line while he took a phone call from his "father." Once he got off the phone his mood was better and we continued to the 86th floor to see the beautiful New York City view.
After all the chilling wind and beautiful cityscape views we began discussing what to do next. My mom suggested that we go back to a fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel where she had taken a picture last summer when her and I visited the city. Unfortunately, we were just in front of the plaza hotel before we came to the Empire State Building, but she claimed that we had not already been there that day and wanted to see the fountain again. Obviously, I was frustrated by the idea of going 30 minutes back on the subway to see a fountain we already saw that day, but once my brother Cody suggested ice skating in Central Park I was okay with the trip back uptown. As soon as we got off the subway Nace grabbed my hand and began rushing off from my family and I started freaking out saying things like "where are you going?!" "This isn't even the way to the fountain!" "Why are you leaving my family behind, slow down!" He finally replied with "Be quiet. I know where I am going and you're being rude. Trust me" So, unable to control my curiosity I then started asking him things like "what are you doing?” “Are you scheming?" But before I could get another sentence out we had crossed a street and I heard a man say "Is this the couple?! Get in! We're not allowed to park here!" I looked up and there was a beautiful blue carriage and my brother, Cody was right behind me snapping photographs while my mother was waiving us off and smiling a giddy little smerk. I suspected something may be happening but when Nace assured me that my mom suggested we do something on our own while on the trip, I figured it was just a sweet surprise that they had secretly planned behind my back.
Halfway through the ride we stopped and the driver told us we could walk around and enjoy the scenery, but we decided to stay and sit in the carriage instead because it was cold and we had a large warm fur blanket to cuddle with. Soon after stopping, a large scrapbook magically appeared from under the blanket and after asking how the heck he got that there, and opening the thick wrapping paper, I began to cry from the very first page. Again, I thought, "is this the proposal?" But convinced myself that it was just another sweet gift he surprised me with for Christmas...I should have known better. I assured myself that Nace would never have mentioned any part of the proposal to me, but he had said things about making a scrapbook, and even told me that he spilled a cup of coke all over the pictures and ruined everything. I guess this was to get me off the track. The scrapbook documented our year together, it included everything from the glasses we wore at 3D movies, to the rose petals he used on Valentines Day. The best part was on the back page of the book. There tied in the very center of a beautiful page was my great grandmothers amazing wedding ring. When I saw it, he asked if I would marry him, and of course I said “Yes!” Moments of half crying, half laughing went by and we rode back under the stars to share the good news with my family.
Come to find out the original reservation for the carriage ride was at 3:30 that afternoon, but because I insisted on visiting the Empire State Building we missed our time and Nace was panicking trying to reschedule. Luckily he was able to buy us a few extra hours and still wanted to ask me after all the stress I put hi through that day. His thoughtfulness and patience could not have been easy and I am overjoyed to call him my future husband.
