A Historic Proposal

In 1776, our founding fathers decided they’d had enough of England and broke off an existing relationship in order to form a new relationship between nations as equals and allies. This reevaluation and rewriting of relationship would emerge only after a war and long diplomatic maneuvers.  On this July 4^th, 2013, I too rewrote and renamed a relationship, though it did not take a war to do it. On July 4^th, 2013, I accepted a marriage proposal from the best man I’ve ever known and best friend I have ever had going from girlfriend to fiancée.

If becoming engaged on July 4^th doesn’t sound American enough, Josh came up with a proposal which would make George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abe Lincoln give a thumbs up.

I was first awakened by my fellow interns, dressed in red, white, and blue dress clothes, who handed me three roses and invited me to begin my independence journey. Connected to the roses, was a card informing me that I was on the trail to engagement and directing my first move. I rapidly dressed and took off running for the Starbucks which had been indicated. Waiting for me there, was one of my roommates with more roses and my favorite drink and pastry [passion iced tea and blueberry muffin]. She handed me another note which directed me to the Giant Panda exhibit at the Smithsonian zoo. I decided I really didn’t need to stop for breakfast and walked with [significant] speed and [moderate] decorum to the metro.

Once in the station I waited patiently [paced excitedly while fiddling with everything I own] for the train and calmly boarded [ran past families, tourist and small children with abandon]. Once I disembarked at the Woodley park station, I began the walk to the zoo. Upon entering the Smithsonian National Zoo, I followed the enclosed map to the Giant Panda Exhibit and looked [excitedly] for either Josh or another roommate. I proceeded to walk through the exhibit, which happens to be one of the largest panda habitats I have ever seen, about three times, not seeing anyone, at this point, in a small panic, I text Josh to ask him if I was in the right place. After a text of reassurance, I received a call from my roommate, “Where are you, EXACTLY?” Having found each other against odds similar to a successful panda pregnancy [low], my roommate and her friend with a camera met me and handed me my next set of instructions and more roses. This note directed me to the National Cathedral, more explicitly, Bishop’s Garden. This particular venue is about 1.6 miles from the zoo, definitely walkable, but not if I wanted to maintain the current state of my hair and makeup.

“Are we walking or taking a cab?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“But really, I’ll buy the cab.”

“Don’t worry about the transport.”

“But really…”

At this point, the camera man made eye contact and quickly mimed a steering wheel behind her back. Excellent.

“The eagle has landed”, my roommate quickly barked into her cell phone.

At that point a silver SUV purred up to the sidewalk and the doors opened to reveal all but one of the roommates I had seen so far. “Get in the car!” and we were on our way.

When we arrived at Bishops Garden, I was handed the final note which read, “Follow the pictures.” I exited the car and entered the beautiful garden and was led by the final roommate to a trail of pictures of Josh and I’s relationship. At the end of the Trail, I was met by Josh in the gazebo, where he read me a [beautiful, stunning, marvelous, creative, and professional looking] book he had made about us and our story and asked for my hand in marriage. Of course, I said yes!

That night as I stood out on the Capitol Lawn watching great American artists perform the Fourth of July Concert while being surrounded by friends and held by my ex-boyfriend and new fiancée, I realized the founding fathers were really on to something when they redefined their relationship with England as I enjoyed not only my freedom as an American, but the beginning of a new chapter in my life as Josh’s fiancée.

Lesson learned: When the man of your dreams offers to spend his life with you in a historical venue, say yes. Everyday, yes.