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The first time I saw a picture of Lindsey my heart started racing. Her curly blonde hair and perfect smile knocked me off my feet. She was absolutely stunning. I realize only so much can be translated through a photo, but it was like she reached right inside me and touched my soul. It was one of those moments that only happen in a cheesy romance movie, but there I was. The rush of emotion was overwhelming and scary all at the same time. Could simply looking at a picture tell such a story? A story as though you already knew that person looking back at you from a sheet of high gloss paper? I would have to wait two months before time would begin to unveil the most incredible story of my life.

On a steamy early summer evening at Alive After 5, the crowd was enjoying the music, sipping drinks and socializing with friends. I found myself wandering through the pack toward the serving table when it happened. It was like divine intervention. The crowd parted, creating a path I could see right through, and there she was. I did my best to play it cool, but anyone who knows me knows that I am anything but cool.

I walked over to her and said “Hello. Lindsey, right?” She smiled back at me, and my nerves vanished. They were quickly replaced by that rush of emotion I had started to feel two months prior while staring at her picture.

Her response made me weak and built my confidence all at the same time. “Hey!” she said. “You remembered my name!”

I instantly let go of any doubts or barriers. I had the feeling that she knew every thought running through my head. We walked around together the remainder of the night holding hands and laughing. There must have been something about the way we looked at each other, or perhaps we were wearing our emotions on our sleeves. It was clear to me that this woman was something special. I found out later that her friend Ashley even joked with her saying, “You two are gonna get married!”

It is funny how innocently something of such magnitude can begin. How a touch on the arm or her hand brushing up against mine can lead to so much. I don’t remember hearing a single note the band played nor a word they sang for the rest of the night. It didn’t matter to me at all, but I knew I never wanted them to stop so that the night would go on forever. But they did stop playing, and the night did end. When we parted ways and said to each other, “I hope to see you again soon.” I knew it was more than a cordial suggestion as we walked away.

After our encounter at Alive After 5, I had to track Lindsey down through a mutual friend of ours, Erin. I couldn’t believe I had left her without getting her number! After exchanging a few emails back and forth, we decided to meet for a drink after work at a little pub called The Attic. I was so nervous that I dragged my friend Rich with me to try and calm me down. I also thought Lindsey was bringing a friend with her, but it turned out that I was wrong. When she walked up the stairs into the bar, I was again hit with that rush of calm excitement.

Rich joined us for a drink and then excused himself for the evening. I wanted so badly to make a good impression on her that I must have appeared crazy. I talked a mile a minute, and I know that I didn’t give her a chance to do much more than answer my onslaught of questions and nod at my foolish stories. From The Attic we went to a late dinner at Lavecchia’s. I was overcome by feelings I could not control as this beautiful woman looked across the table at me. The night eventually had to come to an end, but the journey had just begun.

The next two years were the best of my life. I knew inside that I had found the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I wanted to get her an engagement ring that combined the unique qualities that make her who she is with the traditional symbolism of the unity of two people. The day I went to look at rings, Lindsey was preoccupied over at her friend Brandy’s apartment. I told her I was going to run some errands while she was out and probably go look at golf clubs. Instead, I spent the next few hours talking with a ring designer to find the perfect ring for her. We patiently worked through several design possibilities to create exactly what I was looking for. When it was completed, it was something more than I ever imagined. I must have looked incredibly foolish as I smiled from ear to ear and said to him, “This is it.”

Now it was time to pop the question. It was now the end of May, and our summer vacation to the beach was a few short weeks away. I had the feeling that she might be expecting it to happen then, and that’s when the idea hit me. She would never think that I would propose on Friday the 13th. Everything from that moment fell into place so easily that I knew it was the right idea. I made the decision to send her on a short scavenger hunt to a few places that had sentimental value to us.

A few days before it was all going to be set in motion, I went around and took pictures of the places that I felt would best tell our story. Then I wrote a note to accompany each picture that described what I was feeling when we were there at the time it actually happened. At the end of each note would be a clue to take her to the next spot of the hunt. The idea was to have it all build up to a climax where I would finally get down on one knee and ask her to spend the rest of her life with me.

Before I knew it, the day was upon us. We woke up to a hot summer morning on Friday, June 13, 2008. We went for a morning jog, and I was bursting with anticipation as to what the day had in store for us. When our jog was over, Lindsey took off her headphones and exclaimed to me, “Today is my day!” I could not help but smile, knowing that in a few short hours it was truly going to become her day.

I left work a little bit early to place the scavenger hunt cards in place and explain to the people along the path exactly what was going on. First stop: the place we met. I walked across town in the summer heat to where Alive After 5 is held. I went into Mimosa and walked up to the hostess stand. I explained to the woman behind the counter what I was doing and she happily obliged my little plan. Part one complete.

I walked back across town to the bar where we had our first drink together. Here I repeated the story to the bartender, and again, she was happy to entertain my plan. I passed the note across the bar and smiled.

At this point, my nerves started to get the best of me, and I began to pour sweat on my way to the third stop of the scavenger hunt. I walked into Lavecchia’s for the third stop and explained to the hostess what my plan entailed. I let her know that we would be coming back for dinner afterwards and asked if we could reserve the same spot in front of the lobster tank where we had dinner two years before. I was flooded with the memories of that night and saw the picture in my head of the beautiful young, curly-haired woman staring back across the table at me.

Now it was time for me to go to the final stop on the scavenger hunt, our condo. I had recruited the help of one of Lindsey’s friends to help me decorate the place for the occasion. When I walked into the door, Sara greeted me with an enthusiastic hello. The place was gorgeous. There were rose pedals scattered throughout the living area, accompanied by flowers and pictures of Lindsey and me from over the last two years. Sara gave me a hug and wished me luck as she walked out the door.

There I was, alone in our condo and rehearsing what I was going to say when Lindsey walked through the door. I walked over to the computer and started playing a list of songs that I had picked out, all the while whispering out loud my planned speech. Then my phone rang with the text I had been waiting for: “I’m on the way home.” I made one last walk through the place to make sure that everything was in the right spot, and then walked out into the parking deck to hide in my car until she arrived.

Time seemed to stop at this point. I waited patiently to see her drive by, all the while making sure I was out of view. I was about to explode with anticipation when I saw her whip past me and into a parking spot. There was one last note on the table that I wanted for her to read before I walked in. I carefully calculated how long I felt I needed to give her, and then I opened the car door and walked toward the building entrance. I paused for a brief moment at the door to our place, took a deep breath, and then turned the handle. My calm and cool demeanor quickly turned into a flood of tears when I saw her. She was everything that I expected her to be at that moment and more. She took my breath away. I gave her a hug and did my best to recite the verses I had been practicing so hard in my car over and over while I waited for her to arrive. I clumsily and tearfully made my way to the end and then got down on one knee and said the words I couldn’t wait to utter out of my trembling lips: “Lindsey, will you marry me?”