This is the story of how David proposed to me. It will go down in history as one of the best proposals ever!
Falling in love is easy… talking about marriage sometimes isn’t. Becky would get all giggly, blush and usually the conversation would end. So, about 6 months prior to their engagement, David randomly came up with the words “chicken sandwich” to use instead of marriage or wedding. This made it easier to talk about with each other. Instead of saying, “Whenever we get married, I want to move to a different house,” they would say, “Whenever we get a chicken sandwich, I want to move to a different house.” It definitely made for some funny/interesting conversations.
The week of the proposal, Becky had been really sick with a bad cold. So when David told her he was taking her on a surprise date on Saturday, she felt instantly better. This wasn’t an unusual thing for David to do. In the beginning of their relationship, David often surprised her with fun dates. When Saturday morning came, David sprang out of bed right at 8:00 a.m. Anyone that knows him would find this very unusual, especially since its very hard for him to get out of bed in the morning. He informs Becky that they need to leave by 9 a.m. sharp. “Is there anything special I need to wear,” Becky asks. “Yeah, something nice and springy,” David replies. David had informed Becky the day before that after the surprise date that they were going to have a picnic. So at 9 a.m., they were on the road with a cooler in tow. Little did Becky know what was hiding inside that cooler.
They started off down the road and an hour later, found themselves on country back roads, passing through small towns neither of them had ever heard of. Becky was completely confused by this point. David asked her to close her eyes and not peek. When he told her she could open her eyes, this is what Becky saw.
Becky instantly knew where she was… but that didn’t make her any less confused. This was Becky’s favorite tree. It’s huge, majestic and stands all alone in the middle of an interstate median. Every time they would pass the tree, Becky would always comment about how much she loved it. Looks like David had been paying attention.
“Let’s get out of the car,” David said, as he reached in the back and pulled something out. As they walked towards the tree, Becky saw that he was carrying something in his hand. She honestly thought it looked like a bottle of wine or champagne wrapped in a brown paper bag. When they arrived in front of the tree, David handed her the bag and told her to open it. This is what she found…
It said, “Will you share a chicken sandwich with me for the rest of our lives?”
David got down on one knee and held up a small box and asked, “Will you marry me?” Becky perhaps nodded yes, she really doesn’t remember. The only thing she does remember for certain was the way he looked at that moment. That look on David’s face will be etched into her memory forever. He stood up and asked her if that was a yes. (It was.) They hugged for a long while, unaware of all the cars zooming past.
When the tears subsided, David said, “Oh by the way, remember how I told you we had to be here at a certain time?” She nodded. He continued, “That’s because Ken is sitting across the street in his car taking pictures.” (Ken is David’s coworker, who also happens to be a brilliant photographer.) At that point, Ken ran across the busy interstate, with camera equipment in hand, so they could re-stage the proposal for the camera.
After the whole whirlwind of the proposal, David and Becky went to a nearby park and ate their chicken sandwich.
