The Proposal

I think we are more likely to celebrate events that have occurred in multiples of 5. I'm no scientist, but I believe this has something to do with the ease it takes to show somebody with your fingers. (Do you remember how hard it was to show people you were turning 3 years-old?) Tomorrow marks 2 hands since Sara agreed to kick the other boys to the curb and just be mine. I'm sure she had no idea what she was getting into, and I have no doubt that she has questioned her decision a time or two (who wouldn't question being together forever with a man known as Mr. Mustachio?).

Through the years I have been known to embellish the truth about our early years together. On more than one occasion I have told the story of how we first met while she was dancing at a gentleman's club (because I am such a gentleman). I also have told my version of the proposal, which entails Sara using the scoreboard at a Padres game to pop the big question. While both of those stories are filled with truth (I did meet Sara at a dance, and we were both present when marriage was proposed), I feel a desire to let Sara's story be told.

Prior to our engagement, Sara had requested that I ask her father for permission to marry her. This wasn't the simplest task. I hadn't had that talk with any fathers in the past and you couldn't just Google those things back then, so I didn't really know how it was going to go down. If you know Sam, his stature can be a little imposing. I don't think any father is fond of the fact that some yahoo is going to take his baby daughter away, but I also have a tendency to rub some people the wrong way. I'm pretty sure Sam was one of those people. On December 20, 1998 I had "the talk" with Sam. The details are a little hazy, but I'm pretty sure I wore a cup that day. The toughest part was just getting around to having the talk. It was akward, because I knew he knew why I was there. I don't remember what exactly was said to get the talk rolling, but it ended up being pretty short and sweet. I told him that we didn't have everything planned out for our future, but I knew that Sara was the girl I wanted to spend it with. He told me that I didn't realize what kind of girl I was getting. He gave me his permission, and I am glad that I never have to do that again.

Similar to the Sasquatch, there is no photographic evidence from the proposal. However, Sara was kind enough to write her version down. That is what follows:

"It finally happened. Joshua proposed to me on February 12th. I had no clue he was even going to be in town Valentine's weekend, but once again he managed to surprise me. Since I had no clue he would be in town, I was out doing errands when I got a page from somebody at my house. I almost didn't call because I was waiting to get my hair cut, but I decided to call.....and when I did boy oh boy was I surprised. It was Joshua and he told me to drop everything cause we were going camping.

I was in shock and couldn't think straight while driving home. I was so excited he was home. So, when I got home I packed quickly and we were off. We didn't have any food and had no clue where we would go, so we went to Joshua's house to get all the necessary stuff and we were off. Since we had gotten a late start it was getting kinda late.

When we got to Doheny it was already dark and getting very cold. We quickly set up the tent and made a fire. Josh says he's going to change his clothes. So, I'm trying to get warm by the fire when he calls out for me. So, I go inside the tent where I find Joshua dressed in a suit and bent down on his knee with a single white rose. It was a fake flower and when he opened it I saw the ring. He asked me to marry him and of course I said yes. It was all so special.

We ate our sandwiches and went to bed cause we were so cold. Then when we woke up in the morning we packed up and went home. It was a great Valentine's weekend."

After reading this story, I realized that The Bachelor owes me some royalties. I guess the rest is history.