ENGAGED!

Last Monday, I took the subway and the train and the ferry to get to Block Island, Rhode Island.

I didn't sleep the night before we left. And I didn't sleep the first night we were there. It was like I knew on some level that something big was about to happen.

On the third day into the vacation, Mike and I took a morning bike ride. We stopped mid-ride at Mohegan Bluffs. That's where you walk down a steep bunch of stairs to a little beach. We walked to one end of the beach, where Mike sat on a big rock as I looked for little interesting rocks and shells in a tidepool-like formation.

After I found 3 little rocks I liked, Mike put his arms around me and said "Look, I found a pretty rock." I looked down at his hand and saw something sparkly. Somewhere in my brain, I think I knew what it was but my mind could still not wrap around it. "What is that?" I asked. I kept looking at it, and it started to sink in. It was a diamond ring. All I could figure out to say was "It's so pretty!" and then cry and then say "It's so pretty!" and then cry and then..........well, you get the picture.

"You make my life better," said Mike.

I could barely focus on the walk back up the steep stairs and on the bike ride back to the rental shack. I was in total shock.

When we got back to the lobby of the inn, I told Raoul, the manager, that Mike and I were engaged. Every time we told the news to someone on the island, they would express open delight.

We both welled up when we called our folks.

It was fun texting and calling our friends from the ferry and train ride back.

Now we're back home and thinking about festivities. I looked in a free wedding guide I picked up at the Y and laughed at photos of men in tuxes smoking cigars and brides sporting bouffant hairdos teased high enough to block out the entire sun. Yeah, I don't think we're going to be going that route. It'll be fun figuring out how to create some memories that reflect who we truly are.

Anyway, please join us in celebrating!

Love,
Eleanor