Mark Preston Proposal
When I first met Lisa, I knew she was special. Soon after, our friendship blossomed into a romance. I knew that I loved her and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
Every year, we would take a vacation to one of the many resorts in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Grand Palladium was always our favorite resort, so we booked our vacation there in May 2012. I contacted the resort and told them that I plan to propose while we were there and asked if there was anything that they could do to make this special event even more romantic. For a nominal charge, they upgraded us to a very exclusive section of the resort with many more amenities that we would not normally have received. I said that this was perfect and I’ll let her think I did this as a birthday gift for her, instead of what it really was — a romantic week of me getting the nerve to ask her to marry me.
When we arrived at the resort, she was ready to get off the bus at our “normal” lobby, but I held her back and told her that I had a surprise for her because it was her birthday. The bus went further into the resort and we got off at a different lobby. We checked in and were catered to from that point on. When we got to the room, the resort staff had it decorated with balloons, flowers, banners, champagne and a birthday cake. She was truly overwhelmed and her smile never left her face that week.
During the week, we enjoyed the resort’s beaches, pools, restaurants, bars, and entertainment. We went everywhere and did everything. Laughing, smiling and enjoying every minute. During all of this, I had a small ring box with me the whole time waiting for that special moment. The only time the box wasn’t with me was when we went swimming and then it was in a ziplock bag in a pocket of my bathing suit. Finally, on the fourth day, I decided that tonight would be the night.
We went to a romantic, candlelight dinner in a tent on the beach. The night was perfect. There was a full moon with a slight breeze and the sounds of waves crashing on the beach just yards away. There were about ten of us enjoying this spectacular evening in this tent. The meal was delicious and the wine was flowing. During dinner, we struck up a nice conversation with a young couple next to us. As we were talking, a family of raccoons came into the tent looking for handouts. Some people screamed, some laughed and some gave them some food scraps before the waiters shooed them away.
As we waited for dessert, I explained to the young couple that I had lots of pictures of Lisa and of me, but we don’t have any of us together. I asked them to take a picture of us. The young man obliged and took a picture of me leaning across the table to get close to Lisa. I said that wasn’t a really romantic picture and asked him to take another one. I walked around the table, grabbed Lisa’s hand and got down on one knee. The young man’s girlfriend said, “Oh, my God! He’s proposing! Take pictures!”
I told Lisa how much I love her, how much she means to me, how she has brought color into my black and white world, how she has made me a better man, and how much I want to live happily ever after with her. I opened the small ring box and asked her to marry me.
And I waited. Everyone in the tent waited. The waiters waited. I started to get worried. Everyone’s smiles started to turn into frowns. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably less than a minute, she finally blurted out “YES!” Everyone was clapping and saying congratulations. The waiters brought out champagne for everyone and they even let the raccoons come back into the tent to enjoy the moment. That night, the resort staff again had flowers and champagne waiting in our room congratulating us on our engagement.
Lisa and I got married the following year and we went back to the exclusive section of the Grand Palladium Resort for our honeymoon. We had another romantic, candlelight dinner in the tent on the beach. We fed the raccoons, drank our champagne, laughed and smiled as we reminisced about that special night the year before.
My love for Lisa grows stronger each and every day. She is the reason that I rush home from work to be with her, that I smile when I wake up next to her, and that I kiss her and tell her that I love her every day. She has made me the happiest man on earth.
