On this date 10 years ago, my life changed forever. But not in the way that something like diabetes can change it. It was good. The man I had been dating for 3 years, the man I had truly fallen in love with proposed to me.

I don’t recall exactly what day of the week it was but it was an ordinary work day. Or so I thought. Joe met me for lunch which wasn’t unusual at that time. He had brought me flowers which also wasn’t unusual. We ate at our favorite diner which was right across the street from my office. After lunch, he walked me back to my office building and I had picked up something at the newsstand to snack on later. When saying our goodbyes, he handed me a leather journal to read. Since my hands were full (flowers and snack), I told him I’d read it later. He kept insisting I read it then. I just thought he was being annoying; ha! I freed my hands by giving him something to hold and I opened the journal. Something caught my eye right away. It was written in but also in the middle of the pages, there was a hole that was burned though the pages of the book. And sitting in that hole was a ring. A diamond ring. I don’t recall my exact reaction when seeing this but I continued to read what he had written. And it was a poem where at the end, he asked me to be his wife! It was his grandmother’s ring that he gave me and November 29th is her birthday so this was carefully planned. All of this happened in the lobby of my building however I don’t even know if there were people watching or not. I was too captivated by the moment. Of course I said yes! I don’t think I cried, I think I was too mesmerized by what was going on. It was hard to say goodbye to him but I had to get back to work! I went up to my desk and announced to my boss and co-workers that I just got engaged. What a surreal feeling. My boss was super nice and let me go home so that I could celebrate with Joe and our families.

I was going to have a husband. I was going to be a wife. We were going to be married. One of the best days of my life. And 10 years later, this date still means the world to me. And so does he.