Cross-Country Proposal

To kick off the ‘Engagement Series’, I thought I’d relive the wonderful memories back from when my husband surprised me … I didn’t think it would be so difficult to remember those little details though! Here goes nothing …

I have to give a bit of background information about myself to set the story just right. As some of you may or may not know, I’m a born-and-raised B.C. girl. I grew up in & around Victoria but in my early adult years, I visited Vancouver a lot. So much so that it became a bit of a second home. I think it was because of my complete obsession with the Canucks and going to Blue Rodeo concerts but one never knows for sure. Anyhow, I can’t recall when it was but at some point a family member asked me to housesit for them while they went on vacation. That was my first time absolutely alone in Vancouver and I loved it. I used to take walks around Ladner (where I was staying) and other days I would take the Skytrain into the city. Many days I wound up at Canada Place where I would sit outside and watch the water planes going by while listening to music. It quickly became my favourite spot to get away to.

Fast-forward about ten years.

Somewhere between my days in B.C. and working for a fast-paced company in Toronto, I met a great guy, fell in love and moved in with him - from B.C. to Ontario - within four months of knowing him. I love my mom for being so cool about that but if I have a daughter one day there’s no way in hell I’d let her do what I did. That’s a whole other story though.

While working for this company, I was lucky enough to do a lot of cross-Canada traveling while organizing board meetings and parties … imagine my delight when one of the meetings was going to be in Vancouver. Free trip home … woohoo! Bernard bought a ticket on the same flight and came along with me so we could do some visiting with my mom and younger brother.

The day before my mom and brother came over from Victoria (at least I think it was then … I’m the first to admit I’m horrible with dates) Bernard and I were able to have a bit of free time. I honestly can’t remember what was going on before this (I think I was consumed with work) but we ended up taking a walk from the downtown Fairmount down to the waterfront. Bernard was so sweet as we were walking … he would only let me on the inside of the sidewalk … I thought it was because he was being his usual chivalrous self. I found out later that it was because the ring was in one of his pockets on the left … so I had to stay on the right.
We wound up walking up to Canada Place … not totally unusual because it really has the best view around. We found a seat and just enjoyed the scenery. Then all of a sudden it happened. Bernard is down on one knee and saying what I’m sure were beautiful words. I hate to admit this here but I honestly didn’t hear the all the words … I just saw the ring and kept thinking in my head, “he’s proposing, he’s proposing!” I did hear the question though. Apparently I was still in my own world or crying or something because Bernard’s next words were, “I’m sorry … I’m going to need verbal confirmation on this one.” That’s when I managed to squeak out a ‘yes’. I don’t think it was then but he told me at some point that I gave up a lot to move away and be with him (which is ridiculous, really) so he wanted to propose in my favourite place in the world. He had be planning this for months.
The walk back was so peaceful and seemed to go on and on. I wouldn’t have really noticed how long we had been walking for except for the fact that we were both starving. We missed dinner and were looking for a restaurant that was open in the area. Why we couldn’t find one is beyond me but it happened soon enough. We found an amazing little Italian spot that will hold a special place in our hearts for obvious reasons.
The rest of the night was spent looking at each other with loving eyes, giggling, holding hands … almost acting like teenagers ☺

So that’s the proposal. There’s more though.
The ring. My insanely beautiful and perfect ring.
Bernard doesn’t do anything halfway. He knew exactly what I was looking for in a ring and made it happen. I was almost obsessive about not wanting my ring to have claws (I’ve heard too many stories of the gem falling out) and the design had to be ‘me’. Bernard, unbeknownst to me, found a jeweler and worked with her to design something for me. They were going back and forth with sketches and finally a wax mold. When he was going to the shop, he would tell me he was ‘stuck in traffic’ and various other excuses. I bought it. The end result is perfect.


The real story about the ring was getting it from Toronto to Vancouver. I went through security at the airport before Bernard (which ended up being a good thing). For some reason, his carry-on luggage was being inspected. Very casually Bernard told me I might as well go sit down because this could be a minute. I felt bad for him because security can be nerve-wracking but I agreed to go sit. He was at least five minutes (he’d likely say it felt longer). The employee was doing all kinds of tests on the luggage but it didn’t look like he was finding what he was looking for. I learned later that Bernard told him in a low whisper that there was an engagement ring hidden in one of the compartments so maybe that’s what he was looking for? Nope. Dude was just looking around … very thoroughly! Finally he let Bernard go through and the plan was back to normal. You see, if the cover had been blown Bernard was prepared to get down on one knee and propose in the airport terminal.

That would have been a great story, too, but I’m happy with the way things turned out ;)