ENGAGEMENT

The Spring Semester at UCLA was coming to an end. This was around May of 1995 and my birthday had just gone by with the required celebration. I was also studying for finals, so it was both a time full of stress and anticipation. We had always made it a point to really have fun on our birthdays and these were no exception. Hers was coming up and I had yet to buy her a present. I have always been a procrastinator and still am. I see myself more of the spontaneous type, but I was having difficulty figuring out what to get her nonetheless, I figured this would have to be a good present. We had been living together for about 3 years. I knew her parents and family well by now. We had also been to Mexico City where she met my Dad. Why just my dad and not my mom?, that is a story for another chapter.
It was time to pop the question. That, I decided would be a "good" birthday present. So after leaving school, I decided to drive by a flower shop and bought a bunch of roses. I also stopped by campanile Restaurant on La Brea and made reservations that evening. We had always wanted to go there, but had never made it a point of visiting. Probably it had to do because we lived on the other side of the city (Pasadena) and we did not have to drive far to go have fun or to eat out.

So now I have the flowers, a reservation, but no ring.
I went back to our apartment and went to a couple of jewelry stores that I had been "casing out". I knew I was going to marry her. She knew we were going to marry. It was a matter of just proposing and doing it. The time had come.
I was lucky enough to find a ring that was unique and as close to what I had in mind for her. I bought it, boxed it and took it home.
She could read excitement in my voice and face when she got home. I told her about our dinner reservation and we got ready.
Dinner went without a hitch, when we got to the restaurant, the roses had been nicely placed on the table. The staff were extremely professional since they knew what I was up to.
Finally desserts arrived. We had started diner with a couple of cocktails, had wine with diner and finished with champagne for her birthday celebration. We started dinner at about 7:00 P.M. It was about 10:00PM when I finally got on my knees and asked her to marry me.
She loved the ring, it fit her perfectly, she said yes and we were married the following year on June 29th.