Charlottesville

July 5th, 2005

Steve and I returned yesterday from a trip to Charlottesville, VA, where we attended the BEAUTIFUL wedding of Susan Manning and Bobby Parmar. The wedding included some traditional Hindu elements as well as an exchange of vows, and much to the delight of Steve, aka man-who-would-eat-at-Akbar-every-meal-if-it-were-open-for-breakfast, the reception fare was Indian food.

We took a side trip to Lexington, VA, where Steve was born and lived until he was nine years old. We found his old house and ate pizza at Frank’s, where Steve remembers having a birthday party with an R2-D2 cake.

It was also our first wedding anniversary. What a fun way to spend it, huh? I thought it might be neat to tell the story of how Steve “proposed” and then ask my married friends reading this to post comments telling their proposal stories. Will you do it? So, here’s how Steve asked me to marry him:

Steve and I met at a wedding in Savannah, GA, where I lived, and where he was visiting from L.A., in October 2002. We became pen pals, started talking on the phone, and in March 2003, I flew to L.A. for our first date. (Can anyone guess where that was? Yes, Akbar.) We dated long-distance that spring and summer and into the fall when I moved to Las Vegas to begin grad school there. I knew pretty early on that Las Vegas wasn’t for me, a large reason being that Steve, aka-man-I-could-somehow-no-longer-stand-to-be-apart-from, didn’t live there. So I was thinking of moving to CA. Steve and I had not talked about marriage at all, in fact, I think I had mentioned that I didn’t want to get married. But when we took a trip to NYC in September 2003, and Steve had a little too much to drink and said, “I was thinking of looking at some rings. Do you think that would be OK?” I found myself saying it would.

Of course, I was thinking that in man-time, I wouldn’t see or hear more about the aforementioned ring for months or even years or until my next life. But Steve is not your typical man. Steve is an exceptional man, and when I landed in L.A. for a visit in October, he suggested we go to Canter’s for dinner. Canter’s is an old and old-school diner/restaurant. A description wouldn’t do it justice, so we’ll just have to go when you visit next. Anyway, while we waited for our food, Steve took a little box from his bag and put it on the table and slid it toward me. “I got you this,” he said. That was my proposal, and it was perfect. I was completely surprised and moved, and he had found the most perfect ring for me that I could imagine. I cried some, and called my sister, and then I think I ate a sandwich, and Steve ate some matzo ball soup.

So, what’s yours?

2 Responses to “Charlottesville”

  1. AxsDeny Says:

    Ours is posted for your convienence over at the cave.

  2. Ossie Fleming Says:

    Thanks for sharing

Leave a Reply