Aaron and I went to all of the same elementary, middle, and high schools. We even lived practically acrossed the street from each other our whole lives and never knew it. But we didn’t really become friends until after he graduated. I was 17 he was 19 and we had mutual friends. Our friendship grew over the next year and a half and we didn’t start to date until I was almost 19 and he had just turned 21.
Our first date, I didn’t realize it was a REAL date. He asked me to go to a work dinner at LaSalle Grill, so I was supposed to dress nice. So when we get to the place, we sit down and it’s just the two of us! He had sold a bunch of cars the previous month so his work paid for the dinner. I thought it was some business dinner thing that he just wanted me to tag along on, so he wasn’t alone. We continued to be friends and hangout almost every day. We talked about everything, and flirted A LOT! But it wasn’t until a month after that first date when I asked him for a ride home from our friend’s house that I finally got the nerve to tell him he was my best friend and I kissed him.
He proposed last October. I had been working two jobs: teaching Kindergarten, and serving at Wings. So I was barely ever home and when I was I was exhausted. Aaron had been talking about wanting to carve pumpkins for Halloween. Which we never had done together before. I agreed but told him he needed to get the pumpkins because I was too busy to go pick any out. He also had been wanting to take me out to dinner. I told him it had to be on Friday the 14th because I didn’t have to serve until Saturday. So we made a plan to go to dinner on Friday at the beginning of the week and then carve pumpkins when we got home from dinner that night.
I got home from teaching Friday, showered and was getting ready to go out, and called Aaron because I wasn’t sure where we were going and what I should wear. He said I should dress nice. So I put on a cute sweater dress with some leggings and heels. Aaron got home and said that he wanted me to dress even nicer. I told him that if he wasn’t going to tell me where we were going, how would I know what to wear. He said we would be going to Trio’s. (I had never been to Trio’s, but I knew I was dressed plenty nice ). But I switched it up anyways, put on a “little black dress” and was ready to go.
When we got to downtown SB, we were looking for a parking space and it started to rain. We found a space not too far down from Trio’s. I told Aaron that it wasn’t too far and I could make a run for it in my heels. He said okay. So we took off for the restaurant, holding hands. I went to grab the door as we approached Trio’s and Aaron jerked me away from the door and made me keep running as he said “just kidding, we’re not going there!” He pulled me around the corner and we ended up going to LaSalle Grill. Surprised that we were going there as we have never been there since our very first date, I began to complain that I would not have agreed to run that far in the rain had I known we were going to a further restaurant.
Dinner was great, the service is fantastic there. It wasn’t until we were ordering dessert that I realized we hadn’t been to this place in five years. I think my heart skipped a beat for a second because I thought “is this it? is he proposing?” But I talked myself out of that because I knew he would never propse in public. But just as a precaution I switched the ring I had on my left hand over to my right hand, just in case.
We left LaSalle grill and discussed our pumpkin carving festivities to come. Aaron had yet to pick out any pumpkins so I convinced him to just go to Walmart to pick out a couple. I, however, did not go into the store because I was afraid of slipping on the tile in my tall shoes while carrying a pumpkin. So I waited in the car. It seemed like he was gone forever, I think I even dosed off. When he finally came to the car he had a whole cart full of stuff and then had to run back into the store because he “forgot to get something.” I was patient, but confused. I didn’t think pumpkin carving was this complicated.
When we finally got home he said he would bring the pumpkins in. So I went inside first and started laying out newspaper. Aaron ever so slowly brought in the pumpkins and all of the other “supplies” he purchased one thing at a time (or at least that’s what it seemed like).
The two of us finally got cracking on the pumpkins. Aaron told me I couldn’t peek at what he was doing so I declared that mine was going to be way better than his so I didn’t want him to see mine and get jealous. So Aaron carved his pumpkin and went into another room, because he claimed I kept looking over at him (which I wasn’t!). So I just kept working and finally finished, probably an hour later. I went into the other room and Aaron had his lit up sitting on the fireplace. I thought it was cool so I hurried up to get my pumpkin to put a candle in next to his to prove that mine was better.
It was then that I realized Aaron was working on a second (small) pumpkin and had just finished that one. He handed me the small pumpkin and told me to put a candle in it. I was looking at the outside of the pumpkin thinking what in the world is on this thing. All I could see were tiny holes poked through with pumpkin juice seeping out. He yelled at me to “quit cheating, and just light it.” So I lit the small pumpkin and he had the words “WILL U MARY ME” carved in it. (Clearly spelled wrong, which he recarved later on the back side to read the correct spelling).
I looked at it, and looked at him and said “Is this a joke? Because it’s not funny!” As everyone we know has been giving him a hard time about not getting engaged for at least 2 years.
He said no it’s not a joke, and whipped out the ring.
The thing he went back for in the store turned out to be a bottle of champagne that we drank after I put on the ring!
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