The Proposal and a Breakup

My husband, Paul, and I dated almost 6 years before we got married. We knew each other pretty well by then and we had talked about getting married. In fact, I picked out my own engagement ring.

But I didn't know when he would propose.

It was my first year teaching and things had gotten off to a rocky start. By December, I was ready for a break. We decided to take a weekend get-away to Stillwater, Minnesota.

Stillwater is a beautiful, old town on the St. Croix River. We stayed at a Victorian bed and breakfast and went to dinner at their little, historic restaurant.

We were at the restaurant with perhaps five other couples seated around us. Suddenly, Paul got down on his knee, right there in front of everyone. (This was very surprising because Paul is a private, shy person.)

He offered me the ring and asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes.

The restaurant staff was super excited. They brought us glasses of mead. Apparently, in medieval times, it was customary to drink mead on one's honeymoon. We were so happy, the staff was happy, even the other couples clapped and congratulated us.

Except for one couple.

Shortly after the proposal, we heard raised voices from the far table. Then the woman got up and stormed out of the restaurant, leaving the man sitting alone at the table.

Oops!

Paul's romantic, candle-lit proposal had triggered something in the couple's relationship and they had clearly broken-up.

This situation put a tiny damper on things, but not for long. The next morning, our B&B host said we had made her restaurant staff cry. They were so moved by the proposal that they were crying in the kitchen!

Now that's some proposal.