The Story

Okay, we'll tell you a little bit about the proposal. For the earlier stories of how we met and how we got together (and our struggles) you'll just have to wait--or maybe ask in person.

JAMES: I've always been a bit of a romantic. And for as long as I can remember, I thought about how I would propose. I wanted to make things special and memorable, because those moments ARE special and memorable. And why not remember them in a special way. Unfortunately, sometimes things don't go according to plan. But that's okay, too. Because that's the way things happen in this world. We've all heard stories of amazing proposals, simple proposals, and sometimes no proposal at all. Different people and different cultures see the engagement in different ways. Even today marriages are arranged (can you believe that?).

Personally, I like the idea of a real proposal with the real ring. For one thing, it keeps things clear! A dear friend had to propose twice because the girl didn't get it the first time. And some couples just agree to get married and go ring shopping. Well, I was at the point where people were asking when it was going to happen. By February of 2005, I had the ring.

As I mentioned, for years I thought about what I would do. One of my top choices was picking her up on horseback wearing a renaissance costume (do you have any idea how HEAVY shining knight's armor gets???). Well, Amy grew up in Korea so European Fairy Tales wouldn't really mean a whole lot to her. And the more complex the idea, the more chances for things to go wrong. I thought I had a really simple and cute proposal, but things kept deviating from what I expected.

The day I picked was Chinese New Year (February 9th). I felt this day had a lot of significance. It turns out some of it is negative--if you're superstitious. I had to get Amy to Coronado where we had our first date. My excuse was that we wouldn't be able to celebrate Valentine's Day where we wanted and how we wanted because every good place was taken. So we should celebrate on the 9th. My idea was to take the Ferry across the bay to Beach Bay Cafe where we had our first date. I knew things could easily go wrong with traffic, parking, etc. But little did I know the plan was doomed earlier in the day. For Chinese New Year, the company had lunch at a Chinese Buffet. Needless to say, after work Amy and I weren't hungry. And she didn't see any point in going to Coronado after all.

Yikes, what now? Well, I convinced her that we could still have some dessert. And I knew it was rare that Amy turns down dessert. As I mentioned before, timing was critical. I had to be sure we caught a ferry early enough to eat, but not too early that we would be done and she would be ready to leave Coronado. By the time we arrived on Coronado, we were still full, so we walked around the shops. As the sun went down we continued to enjoy the citiscape of Downtown San Diego. We eventually decided to go in to the restaurant. After a tasty cheesecake I retreated to the restroom area in the back to call Kenny, a friend from childhood, whom Amy had never met. Everything was set. He had the ring and my guitar and would meet me at 9pm on the Ferry Landing. Well, at that point it was just after 8pm. The next ferry would leave Coronado at 8:30 and the last one would be 9:30, which would be soon after the proposal. All I had to do now was stall until after the ferry left. So... I started leading her for another walk around the area. She was wearing a red dress with a coat, but things were starting to get chilly for her. And her shoes were starting to hurt!!! She took off her shoes which compounded the chilly effect of the sidewalk and sand. So here I was torturing the poor girl.

As it neared 9pm we started making our way back to the ferry landing. I wasn't sure where Kenny would be and I had hoped it wouldn't be too close to any other people. As we approached the edge of the wooden walkway I saw Kenny sitting on the low stone wall between some planters. I paused in front of him a moment and looked at him as he played. And I said, "Kenny!?!?" ...then we played the whole thing out as if we hadn't seen each other in a while. And I introduced Amy and Kenny. She asked him how often he goes out there to play. She even asked if people put any cash in his case as they walked by. Kenny mentioned that he just worked across the bay next to a boat. But amy was looking at the water taxi just behind Kenny. Then Kenny said, "Hey James, didn't you play guitar? Why don't you play something?" So I started to play Adam Sandler's "Grow Old With You". At this point, Amy was still in shock that I knew this guy who was sitting on the sidewalk playing guitar with his case open. But eventually she understood he was just out there for fun. So a few lines into the song she recognized it. Up until a few months before the proposal she hadn't seen "Wedding Singer" so I had to plant it in her head. At the end of the song I gave her a hug and whispered in her ear... "I have a confession to make... That song was about you."

Then I reached into the case and pulled out the ring box (which she recognized) and gasped. I asked her to marry me. And she said "Yes." I'm pretty sure that if I had a speech here I would've botched it up so I kept it simple. And I'm pretty sure I botched up the song because of cold, shaking, nervous hands, but hopefully, whenever she watches the movie she'll think I played it just like Adam Sandler. And the picture you see above is the actual moment (not a pose) when Kenny was smart enough to bring a camera (since I forgot to hand him mine).

Afterwards, Kenny immediately made himself scarce and we took the ferry back. On the ferry, we passed by the USS Midway and something was going on because they started a fireworks show as we rode across. It was a moment only God could have orchestrated.

Thank you, Lord, for a memorable time.

...let's see if Amy tells her side....