The Proposal

There were two proposals.

Sort of.

The first one was not real, although for a few minutes, Cory absolutely believed it was.

Before I met Catarina, I had already booked a trip to England with Ethan to visit family. After Catarina and I started dating, I was excited to tell my friend Cory that she was going to come with us. I messaged him with what I thought was an innocent opening:

“Fella, I’ve got something to tell you.”

His response was immediate.

“You didn’t! No way! Oh my God, you’re crazy! I can’t believe it!”

It took me a moment to realize what he thought I meant. Cory thought I was telling him I had proposed.

So naturally, I told Catarina what was happening, and we decided to have some fun with it.

She had a spare ring in her purse. She put it on her ring finger, placed her arm around me, draped her hand across my chest, and we video-called Cory to “share the news.”

He completely fell for it.

And honestly, I think part of the reason he believed it was because he could already see how I felt about her. As ridiculous as the prank was, it did not seem impossible.

The real proposal started quietly, before Catarina knew anything about it.

When I went to buy the ring, I was completely calm. That surprised me a little. There was no panic, no doubt, no sense that I was doing something impulsive or uncertain. I knew in my heart what I wanted. I wanted to marry this woman.

We had only known each other for two months, so I did not think we would get married right away. But I knew I wanted to give her that commitment. I knew this was where my heart was.

The actual proposal, however, was a very different story.

We were celebrating my birthday at Hotel Arts. We had spent a beautiful day by the pool and were getting ready to go for dinner at The Park by Sidewalk Citizen. The ring was in my pocket. The moment was there.

And suddenly, I was not calm at all.

I opened my mouth and could barely talk. I could not think straight. Whatever smooth, romantic version of the proposal I might have imagined disappeared instantly. I completely fluffed it.

It was not polished. It was not cinematic. It was not the kind of proposal that would win awards for delivery.

But it was real.

Fortunately, Catarina still said yes.

We met on May 18, 2023.

And on July 30, 2023, just a little over two months later, we were engaged.

Fast, maybe. Unexpected, certainly.

But not uncertain.

From the outside, it might have looked crazy. From the inside, it felt like the most natural promise in the world.