dropping to a knee...a look back

We both had to work Sunday lunch shifts at Red Lobster. It was a long day of endless shrimp, when we got out we were too tired to cook at home; let alone go hiking like we I had planned originally, instead we went to Harvey’s for dinner.

Rheila had a chicken sandwich and I had a salmon BLT. While we were there we talked about how we were  at the exact place where we had first met. It’s something we bring up every time we go there, but we still smile when we say it. The exchange always goes like this.

“You know I like these seats better,” she says.

“But,” I start to say.

“I liked it better when they would have live music upstairs.” She’ll finish.

I’m pretty sure the first time we met was a Monday, I had texted her friend who I had a crush on and she said told me to come down. I drove down and found out her friend was seeing someone, but would I like to be introduced to her fried? Later on that night we went back to a friend of hers house and drank till 5 in the morning. I don’t think Rheila liked me much when we first met. She most likely thought I was crazy.

After dinner Tony, Dave and I were watched football before Tony and I did laundry. Rheila watched the game with us for a bit before hitting the hay. I told her goodnight and after she went to bed I told the guys I planned on proposing the next day.

Rheila had to wake up early for class so got the coffee put together for her in the the night before all she would have to do was hit the button. After I ground the beans, I drew a picture of her, the dog, the cat and me in a sailboat for her with little fishes underneath it with my horrible artistic ability. Underneath I said in big letters, “I Love you.”

She said she smiled when she saw it.

I woke up nervous and after she left and walked the dog. Tony and Dave were pretty quiet and I just  wanted  for her to get out of class around 3 p.m. so I could get it over with. She had a test that day so I wrote her texts saying how much I loved her and that I would pick her up from class so we could go straight to the Kalamazoo Nature Center.

Just as I started to get really nervous, Dave and Tony left, so I was home alone. I wanted to get a haircut and also eat, but my stomach felt kind of queasy, so I packed up the ring and collected some money went out.

The barber college where I had got my gone before my interview in Bad Axe was closed so I went to Meijer to put money in the bank. The younger guys at Meijer were really nice and asked me how I was doing. I couldn’t keep it to myself.

“Well I’m going to pop the question today,” I told them. “I’m really excited yet nervous.”

The guy behind the counter told me not to worry; I couldn’t mess up worse than he did.

“I did it up north with wife on vacation. I took the ring out of my pocket three times and it put back in again before I worked up the nerve,” he said. “She was wondering what the problem was with me that day.”

After made the deposits I found myself wandering around the store aimlessly. I had some plan to get dog food, and also for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to get Rheila a new hoody as well, but I couldn’t find anything. Somehow I got the dog some food and a plush toy a chipmunk before I checked out.

The car took me to Red Lobster more than I decided to go there, I assumed I would get something to eat there and see some familiar faces. I sat in the car for 10 minutes outside and copied some Shakespeare I had found online into my notebook, in addition to that I jotted some things down that I wanted to make sure to say to her.

When I walked in they asked me if I wanted to work, because a host had quit that was supposed to work that day and a server had called in. They were really short staffed but I didn’t have my work clothes with me and was in no shape to work. I showed the ring to Rhelia’s friend Ali who teared up and a few of my co-workers. My manager Mike voice got soft when I showed him the ring.

“OH…that nice,” he said. “Are you nervous?”

“No. Terrified,’ I said.

Afterward I finally went to the barber school and saw the guy who was outside, Juan, who had cut my hair before. He was on the phone and said he could cut my hair after he got off break. I waited until he came back in and he called me to his chair while I had my head down.

“You cut my hair last time when I had a job interview,” I said. “It went well and I got the job. I asking my girl to marry me today so I figured I’d stop here again.”

He laughed and someone else in the shop asked me how I was planning on doing it. It seemed everyone crowded around me and the old man who ran the place put his hand out for me to shake. I did and told everyone about how I was planning on doing it at the Nature Center.

“Shit,” someone said you Juan. “You got him the job, now you need to get him the girl too!”

Juan took extra time to make sure everything was even and then shaved my face for no additional charge. 

After it was done I tipped him $10 even though the haircut itself had only cost $5.

When I got home I paced around the house and attempted to play video games for a while. I called my mom and nearly cried, I was so happy and nervous at the same time. She recommended I take a walk around the block so I did. I passed the Oak Street market and looked at the graphite on the walls outside. We had taken pictures there a few days before.

Finally 3 p.m. rolled around and I went to pick up Rhelia at KVCC. My eyes were red from being emotional.

I wore sunglasses when I pulled up and she greeted me with a big smile on her face. “I think I did well on the test,” she said.

She smiled and told her I loved her, and I asked if she was ready to get moving to the Nature Center. “I want to show you library here on campus, is that ok?” she said with a smile. “I think you’d really like it.”

We went with her through the school and really did think the library was cool. It looked like a rainforest was right behind the 20-foot-tall windows. We got some free books that were being given away and I was in a hurry to get to the Nature Center.

“I need to go home and change my shoes,” she said. “These are too nice to wear hiking.”

We went home and she said hi to the dog and changed shoes, luckily she decided she didn’t need to change her cloths.

We drove through the North side of Kalamazoo on the way out of town. As we passed several stops I thought about articles I wrote at those locations for school and for MLive when I heard a clanging sound coming from the front left tire.

“Please god just let us get there,” I said in my head.

The lady at the gate got my money and then asked if I wanted a map of the trails. Later Rheila said she thought it was somewhat strange that I said that we were ok so quickly. The car was still making a clanking sound.

Luckily when we got there I found out there was only a stick in the wheel well. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I didn’t bring my cell phone out to the trails, even though I thought I might want to take a picture, because I wanted to enjoy the moment in time and be completely “there.”

“Let’s go see your turtle pals,” Rheila said as we got out of car. More delay I thought as we went in the Nature Center building.

Still things were better because I finally was feeling calm because I was pretty sure that she didn’t know what was going on. It gave me some satisfaction to think how happy she would be and what a surprised I’d make her. We went and looked at the turtles and a couple of owls that have to stay inside because they have suffered brain damage. They’re pretty cute.   

Rheila walked in front of me towards the pond in the center of the nature center wearing a pink sweatshirt that wasn’t really needed because of the weather. It had turned out to be a beautiful day and we were able to see a few turtles swimming in the pond.

I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her as she leaned against a railing looking at the pond and kissed her check.

“Where do you want to go next?” I asked her. I still hadn’t decided on the exact location where I was going to ask her. I was torn between a secret waterfall that we both loved and a bench that overlooked a valley on the side of the hill.

“Let’s go to that bench.”

We had to walk away through the trail as I tried my best not check every step that the ring was still in my pocket. She slowed down for a moment and held hands with me before we got to the trail that went up the hill.

“You’re walking faster than me,” I said as I felt my heart beating at a crazy pace.

“I always have,” she said. “When we first started dating it drove me crazy how slow you walked.”

She paused to wait up for me. “Are you feeling ok?” she asked.

“Yeah, I just haven’t been taking care of myself lately.”

She got to the bench first and I followed her. “Let’s sit down for a moment” I said.

We looked out across the valley. On the other side the trees were still green but just starting to show that they would explode into the fall colors soon. Before us was a steam surrounded by more green and I remembered how when we had first started coming here the ground had been black and charred. The Nature Center needed to rebuild the forest from the ground up.

“This is the spot where I first realized I really loved you,” she said.

“We came here after my grandmother died,” I said.

“That’s right, well you brought me to the funeral and I realized how much I cared for you.”

I knew it was now or never, and I felt my back left pocket to make sure that the notes I had prepared where still there.

“I’m really glad she got to meet you before she passed,” I said. “She was always concerned that I wouldn’t find somebody and hopefully she knew we were working out pretty well.”

“You know I kept the earrings she gave me,” she said. “Well I kept one, but I lost the other, I know they weren’t anything expensive but I still have that one earring in a jewelry box.”

We sat in silence for a moment after that before I started again, reaching for my notes.

“You know we’ve been together for a long time, you were there when that happened, when my dad got out of…” I looked down at my notes. “That first Thanksgiving turkey that you cooked for him was really great. 

"With the move coming up I just wanted to tell you some things,” I said.

I took out Shakespeare’s 116 Love Sonnet (I had printed it out at home because I didn’t trust my handwriting) and read it to her. Afterwards I looked down at my notes and said a few more things about how I think people make their own luck, but I considered myself pretty lucky to have found her.

Her eyes looked crazy calm during the whole experience, and I kept looking in them as I talked. I got up by myself and walked to the edge of the hill and turned, taking the ring out of my pocket as I looked at a trout stream. She got up and I told her it would most likely be best if she stayed sitting down.

When I had practiced dropping to a key in the house during the week before, it had hurt and felt clunky. However this time when my knee hit the ground it was as easy and natural as the first time I ever did during middle school football. I felt young and healthy again

“Rheila will you marry me,” I said.

Her hands flew up to her mouth as she gasped a massive smile breaking over her face. “For real?” she asked.

“Umm yes,” I tried to say still on my knee.

I held the ring out and started to put it on her finger but it didn’t seem to go on fast enough for her so she put it on herself. Then she started kissing me and sort of picked me up. After we kissed for about 30 seconds I pulled away.

“So that’s a yes right?”

It was. We held each other close and I realized I wanted to remember this moment for the rest of my life, so I wrote this somewhat clunky story down.