Once upon a time in May 2011, Richard and I celebrated our friend Eric's birthday on a party bus. We didn't know each other, but we soon would. We got to talking and really hit it off! Unfortunately, I had hit the sauce a bit too hard and needed to be reminded of our encounter. I took to Facebook and friended Richard. Richard happily accepted this friendship and we began exchanging messages. We discovered that we lived a mere THREE blocks from each other. If you're familiar with LA's sprawl, you know that that is a rarity. We set a date at the Los Feliz mainstay Big Bar at Alcove and the rest is history.
-- Paul
The story of our engagement really began with me asking Paul a simple question - "What do you want for Chanukah?"
Paul said he would think about it and let me know. But he didn't.
As Chanukah rapidly approached, so did the frequency with which I asked the question.
"So what do you want for Chanukah?"
"I don't know!"
"But what do you want?"
"I just want you!"
While this probably reads as quite sweet, keep in mind that I don't think it was initially intended that way. It was meant as a deflection, a way of not answering the question, and a way of shutting down the conversation with a wink and tongue planted firmly in cheek. It then became a daily ritual:
"I'm serious – what do you want for Chanukah??!! I'm not kidding!"
"I just want you!"
"That’s not an answer! You already have me! What else do you want?"
"I told you, I just want you!"
And then it struck me. Well, if that's really what you want, then by God that's what you're going to get. Be careful what you wish for.
I went ring shopping. I knew we were heading to Argentina shortly – in part to do a glacier hike, no less – and figured that would be the right locale to pop the question. After all, how many times in one's life is one on a glacier near the South Pole?
Suddenly, I stopped asking him what he wanted for Chanukah. He asked me what I had decided to do, and I told him he'd have to wait and find out on our big trip to Argentina. (The only real problem with this plan was that it meant I had to wait until the very end of our Argentina trip to finally do this, which meant I quietly spent most of our trip on the verge of having a complete panic attack.)
I almost managed to keep the whole thing a complete surprise, until our tour guide (whom I had told I was going to make a marriage proposal) told Paul, with a smile, to "have a very, very special day" after helping him with his equipment. After hiking 3-4 hours to the center of the glacier, we stopped for to eat the packed lunches we were instructed to bring with us. I made sure that Paul and I sat a small distance away from the rest of our group. After we had our sandwiches, I pulled out his gift-wrapped ring box, and presented him with his long-awaited Chanukah gift.
I was 95% certain he'd say yes, but there was still a small 5% part of me that wasn't entirely sure. I didn't want to assume anything. Luckily for us all, Paul made the right decision. Still, it's incredible how strange and surreal the actual moment is when you both decide to take a flying leap into the future that will change absolutely everything. To share absolutely everything and join all parts of our lives together for the rest of our lives.
I, for one, can't wait to get started. And I truly hope you'll be there to join us.
--Richard
Watch here!
vimeo.com/89683132