How We Became Engaged....

I had known for a while that I wanted to propose to Eva. But the economy was in disarray and I was in fear of losing my job. I had mentioned to Eva that I wanted to get engaged, but money was tight and we may need to wait another year. I could tell she was disappointed, but she understood the circumstances. Little did she know that I was well on my way to popping the question! After all, I wanted it to be a big surprise!

In November of 2002, my buddy Steve and I went out looking for engagement rings. He had told Laura, his girlfriend at the time that he was helping me pick out a ring for Eva. And I had told Eva that I was helping Steve find a ring for Laura. Would this little secret of ours actually work? We didn’t know, but hoped for the best. We headed to downtown Boston to the Jewelry Exchange building, not really knowing what to expect. For those of you who do not know about this place, there are probably a hundred or more jewelry shops in this area! Anyway, we looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and headed in!

The first shop we went into was more of an educational experience. We had done a little research of our own on diamonds, but really didn’t know the first thing about them. We knew that there were 4 C’s, and that’s pretty much it! The guys at this shop were friendly and they helped teach us a little about diamonds. After staring at them blindly for a while, we took our literature with us and left. We knew exactly what we were doing!

We headed up the elevator in search of another diamond dealer. We found one that looked pretty luxurious, so we headed in. One of the salesmen approached us and we headed into his office like bait on a hook. After explaining to him what we were looking for, he brought out a box of diamonds for us to gawk at. Full of indecision, Steve and I thanked the salesmen for his time and off we went. What were we getting ourselves into? We took a stroll around the building to relax a bit. And then I remembered that there was a jeweler in the building that knew Eva’s family. With any luck, maybe we could get a great deal on a couple of diamonds! After searching the building directory for a familiar name, I found the jeweler that I was looking for. The name of the shop was Hefez and Sons. It was located on the seventh floor, so back up the elevator we went!

Upon entering the shop, a guy by the name of Joe approached us and we told him what we were looking for. I told him who I was buying a ring for and he seemed to realize why we had come. He was very helpful and straight to the point. He got Steve and I sucked in that very day. Steve knew the style he wanted and he got it! I showed Joe a picture of what I needed and he said he could make it no problem! It would be ready after the New Year! Now the real planning began!

I knew I wanted to propose on our four-year anniversary, which was in January. What can you do in January? I decided to book a room in a little bed and breakfast out in the Berkshire’s named The 1896 House. They had a number of unique suites decorated for different time periods. I chose the Victorian-style room, because we both like that period. I also knew that there was great skiing in that area, so we would ski during the day at Jiminy Peak and then head to our room.

On January 18, 2003 Eva and I headed out to the Berkshires to celebrate our four-year anniversary. Little did she know that I was carrying a ring and a bottle of champagne in my luggage! The champagne was special because we had purchased it together on our first vacation in Napa Valley! We had promised only to drink it on a special occasion. Well, it doesn’t get anymore special than this! Our first stop was Jiminy Peak where we spent most of the day skiing! I couldn’t wait to propose! I was anxious all day, but I didn’t want to show it. After all, I had a diamond ring locked in the trunk of the car! Luckily I had already purchased insurance!

After almost a full day of skiing, we decided to head to our room at the bed and breakfast I had reserved. We checked in and headed to our suite. Eva and I both loved the room! It was so romantic it was sick! How could Eva not know what I had planned? It had a fireplace and a big canopy bed! Not to mention a Jacuzzi in the bathroom! I thought for sure she would see through it all! While she took a shower, I hid the ring and put the champagne on ice for after dinner. Once we were both ready, we headed out for a nice dinner.

I was hoping for a nice, but fairly quick dinner. The restaurant was nice and old-fashion looking. As soon as we were seated, I knew this was going to be a long dinner. It took our waitress nearly 15 minutes to greet us and get our drink order. Another 15 minutes to bring us our drinks and take our appetizer order. And this just kept going on and on all night! After eating our meals, it had been about 2 hours since we walked into this place. At this point all I wanted to do was get back to our room and propose! Well that wasn’t going to happen any time soon! It took the waitress half-an-hour to get us our check! She knew that I was furious and apologized, but I wasn’t going to be happy until I was in that room down on one knee. Finally we escaped and were on our way!

Back at the room I had purposely used the bathroom first. I know, how ungentlemanly. But it was a plan! While she was in the bathroom I slipped the ring in my pocket. I was extremely nervous, but didn’t want to show it! I stood next to the fireplace and called her over to me after she came into the room. I took her into my arms and told her I loved her and she told me she loved me, too! Then I said, “Since we both love each other so much”, I got down on one knee, pulled out the ring and said “will you marry me”? Almost as if I had hit her, she jumped back about 10 feet and dropped to her knees. She was absolutely hysterical and started to cry. She kept telling me to shut up for some reason! She finally realized that this was real and came over and got her ring! She gave me a great big hug and said “Yes”! I got her good! I got the reaction I was looking for! Then out came the bubbly, which was gone in about 15 minutes!

That night was one of the most memorable moments of my life. Not only because I was engaged, but because it was so cold! It had dropped to below zero that evening! And out of the six suites on site, ours was the only room that did not lose heat. Every other room needed to have space heaters brought into them except for ours. Unfortunately, that morning came awfully quick. But I had another surprise! We drove up to Adams Farm in Wilmington, Vermont for a private horse drawn sleigh ride. It was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend!

- Frank