My Proposal - Scott's Story

I thought about doing it on the way over. That way we'd be engaged for the entire trip -- kind of a honeymoon for the affianced. Two things steered me away from that plan. I didn't want to steal any thunder from Charlotte's aunt Corrine, as the party we were going to was to celebrate her marriage. This might actually have been OK in retrospect, but it struck me as a bad idea. The second reason I didn't want to do it then was because we were on a red-eye flight, and you can't propose and then get right to sleep. Nor can you propose when you and your bride-to-be are all disheveled and have Godzilla breath.

I had already asked permission of Charlotte's father, Roelf, so I was good with him before the trip even started. However, I hadn't had time to ask her mother, Brigitte, like I wanted. That meant I had to wait until the France portion of the trip, giving me some more time to come up with a plan.

Along the way, I started telling people my secret plans, starting with Charlotte's friend Sally. She got so excited about it that I got the idea of starting this big conspiracy in which everybody close to Charlotte knew it was coming but her. Obviously her father knew, Sally knew, and I ended up telling her cousin Marieke and her sister Emilie along the way. In Bourg de Batz I snuck away from Charlotte for a moment and asked her mother's permission. And she still had no clue.

When I first bought the ring, keeping it a secret was incredibly hard. You're completely in love with this woman and now you have to keep this enormous secret from her? Impossible! Now I was loving building my little conspiracy.

By the time we reached Paris, city of love, I had all but decided to wait until our flight home. However, I kept the ring on me in my wallet at all times (this despite nearly losing it in a failed pick-pocketing attempt during my first 7 seconds on a Paris Metro).

The final members of my cabal were the flight attendants of British Airways flight 219. When I approached them with the idea, they rose to the occasion, offering to do anything to help. One of the women even suggested I use the public address system. I'd envisioned making some kind of announcement, but now that I was so close I froze. What would I say? Could I keep from collapsing from stage fright? I finally plucked up my courage and had the woman introduce me over the PA.

Moments afterward, when discussing it with Charlotte, I struggled to remember what I'd said. I can only compare it with my brief foray into theater during my senior year of high school. Every appearance on stage was at once exhilarating and horrifying. The combination seems to give me some kind of selective amnesia, causing me to forget anything I do during those moments. In any case, I said something about a proposal and she said something about not minding getting married to me. I'm pretty sure about those parts. At least she's wearing the ring!