For his culminating university internship in 2008, David interned at Athletes in Action. In January of that year, Athletes in Action began to plan an athletic-outreach trip to Mali, Africa. Having been born and raised in Africa, David was undeniably the perfect asset to the team; however, David had just accepted an offer to work on a micro-finance project in Congo from September-May of 2009 with World Venture. Raising support for two trips to Africa seemed impossible, and Congo definitely took precedence....until
A coworker at Athletes in Action offered to pay the majority of Dave's ticket and expenses to Mali. He began to consider the opportunity seriously, and I even told him he should go. After a lot of prayer, David informed me of his decision to join the Mali team with Athlete's in Action. For the next four months, he proceeded to fill me in on all of the intricate details of the Mali trip, which would inevitably ruin our prior summer plans to hang out (not to mention separate us for an entire year).
On Friday, May 16, 2008, I woke up frustrated that the day of Dave's departure for Mali had finally arrived. It would be an entire year before we would see each other face-to-face again. Dave's luggage was packed in the car and he hugged his family goodbye. It was my job to drive him to the airport, in spite of my poor sense of driving direction. Midday, Dave's flight was delayed due to the stormy weather in New York. We left home much later than I expected, which only led me to be more frustrated when I stopped to consider the 2-hour, night-time drive home by myself.
There is only one international airport in the state of Maine...and I had not traveled nearly enough at that point in my lifetime to understand how to get there. I trusted Dave when he told me we had to get off at the next highway exit; however, I was bitter that there were no signs pointing the way to the airport, and sure that I was going to get lost going home. We were practically lost en route to the airport...and he was sure to miss his flight if we didn't hurry.
In spite of the rush we seemed to be in, we parked the car in front of the Portland Headlight park entrance. Dave assured me we would not be late for his flight because we were so close. He wanted to end our time together on a less frustrating note, so we grabbed some sweatshirts and took a brief walk toward the lighthouse. We had arrived in time to see the sun setting over the rocky, Maine coastline.
That was the moment that Dave told me his "secret". Four months prior, Dave had actually declined the offer to join the outreach team to Mali, Africa. "I'm not going to Mali" were the exact words he said, before getting down on one knee and surprising me with a proposal for marriage. Even though I was utterly shocked that he wasn't leaving the country, I said "yes".
Not long after the sun had set, the park rangers ushered us toward the exit. Dave said that we were obliged to make one stop, to a friend's house in Portland, to show off the gorgeous ring. In truth, the purpose of this detour was so that we could change into the dress clothes he had packed in his luggage for each of us. Dressed up, we celebrated our engagement at Olive Garden, where Dave had previously made dinner reservations.
Today, I could not be happier with my decision to accept such an elaborate marriage proposal from my best friend. We have had so many adventures together, and I'm certain we will have many more.
-Nicole
1 comment:
you forgot to mention that you had to pick up Dave's toiletry bag that he left at the house, not knowing that your engagement ring was in the bag...at least I think that's how the story went!
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