The Day Of - Sharon's Point of View

It’s hard to say much about May 27th up until the events at the lily ponds. Was Jon acting himself? Yes and no.

Given that this weekend was a surprise for me and the only info I had received was that our plans involved the Huntington and a fancy-ish dinner, Jon’s behavior could have been slightly out of the ordinary (justifiably) because he wanted to make sure I was prepared for what we were doing without ruining the surprise. This is pretty much exactly how our trip to the Big Island of Hawaii went earlier this year.

So in the days and weeks leading up to Memorial Day Weekend, Jon made a big deal about what to wear to the Huntington. My assumption was that because he mentioned we would be going out for a fancy-ish dinner afterward, he wanted us dressed appropriately for the entire day so we wouldn’t have to change. Didn’t seem illogical to me.

The day or two before our trip Jon did seem to be napping and sleepier than usual, but I didn’t think much of it. However, the driving under the speed limit on the freeway to the airport was something I was not accustomed to! Apparently the Dramamine had been the cause, but what did I know. I wasn’t going to complain and insist he start speeding. I figured he was just tired and wanted to drive carefully.

Everything seemed pretty normal from then until we entered the Gardens (with the exception that they couldn’t find the tickets that our friend Natalie had put aside for us to get in for free – but apparently there was a third ticket included in there for Mark, the photographer). Upon entering the gardens Jon filled his Camelbak to ensure we’d have water for our walk. Apparently I had been oblivious to the amount of water he was consuming because he kept taking bathroom breaks. Given that Jon is not one to drink a lot of water, this was strange since I have been working on getting his daily water intake up and his use of diuretics (e.g. coffee) down.

After walking around for a while in the Japanese and Chinese gardens and then a stroll in the rain and cloud forest, we decided to return to my favorite spot, the Japanese gardens to lay down and take a nap. That was about 2pm. When we arrived I found us a somewhat shaded area to lay beneath some miniature palm trees and fell asleep curled up together. When we awoke, Jon (surprise, surprise) had to use the bathroom again and he headed off to the bathroom with a granola bar insisting that I eat the remaining half of my sandwich from brunch, which I did (discreetly).

When he returned we discussed where to go from there as it was approaching 3pm and we had yet to visit the Desert Garden or the lily ponds. After a little debate, I agreed to go with Jon’s plan and stop by the lily ponds to see if there were any turtles around – if not we’d go to the desert garden and return afterwards to check again for turtles.

On our way down to the lily ponds, Jon noted that it was 3pm. We had 1.5 hrs left in the Gardens. We approached the first pond and saw some fish swimming around. I was about to move on to the next pond when I saw a turtle popping its head out from lily pads. The photograph I took of the turtle was at 3:09pm.

From there I moved to the next lily pond where lots of people were standing around. I am naturally repelled by crowds so I moved on to the third lily pond. Nothing. Approaching the 4th and final lily pond, a pond that had been under construction during my last visit, I noted a bench that was also new and became childishly excited when I saw a turtle. But it wasn’t just one turtle! It was two! Mama & baby turtle! I became so excited seeing the turtle that even after I had snapped a photo and joined Jon who was already sitting on the bench, I kept going on and on about the turtles. He didn’t seem to care or be nearly as excited as me. I kept saying, “Look! Mama & baby turtle!” Clearly he had other things on his mind. Ooops!

Somewhere around 3:13pm, Jon said he had a question, not a terribly unusual thing for him to say. It wasn’t until he said he needed to get down on one knee that he started shaking while holding my hands in what I refer to as "death grip" and tears started to well up in his eyes and I became super anxious and said, “Seriously?!” … “Now?!” I kept squirming and he kept stalling (for pictures, right?); I figured he was just lost for words…but more likely he wanted me to relax and not overwhelm me by going too fast.

When he reached into his pocket for the ring, he exclaimed, “Crap, I think I lost it!” to which I replied, “Haha, funny!” He held the ring down and out of my sight and I kept thinking, thank goodness there's no box! but at the same time I don’t want to see it! When he started to say my full name I nearly lost it and shook my head rapidly at the sound of it saying, "Oh no!" When he proceeded to ask me in the cute voice that he only uses around me) whether I would mawwy him, I melted. Considering I'd always been terrifed of a moment like this, suddenly that terror dissipated. I closed my eyes tight and nodded, then said "OK" then "Yes" as Jon insisted I respond. Clearly accepting his proposal once wasn't enough, he needed to get three acceptances just to make sure!

I gave him a huge hug and kiss and he asked for my hand which I extended and shut my eyes tight as he slipped it on my finger. He asked if I wanted to see it and I shook my head. [As I was not one of those girls that accompanied him to jewelry stores and hand picked a ring. Nope. He knew three qualities that I liked – emerald cut, three-stone, and simple. I was worried that he was afraid of disappointing me so I didn’t want to “react” to the ring as I had all the confidence in the world that he knew me and would choose something perfect for me. Of course, 30 minutes later when Chris, the woman from the Huntington that escorted us on our photo shoot asked to see the ring, I did react, as it was beyond perfect, but significantly larger than I would have ever anticipated!]

After Jon pointed out the photographer and I deduced who it was, I was ecstatic! Still in shock, but ecstatic by what it all meant! Having a friend do my engagement photos at one of my favorite places in the world was beyond amazing and thoughtful of Jon. I was completely and utterly overwhelmed. My head was just blank. But clearly I was lucid enough to recall that Mark had actually photographed a wedding the night before and stood there amazed to see him hours after. What an incredible gift!

Of course, being surprised at dinner was the icing on the cake. It shows just how brain-dead I was from all of the events that had taken place that I neglected to notice my parents sitting just 5 feet in front of me. I have never felt so gullible in all of my life. They got me. They got me good!

I truly cannot express the gratitude I feel for Jon (and Mark) for working so hard to make this day a reality. And of course, a million thanks to my father for being in cahoots but keeping my mother out of the loop until the very last second, and of course for traveling so far to be there with us to celebrate.

I am such a lucky, lucky girl!

Behind the Scenes

Planning the Proposal

Bloopers (a.k.a. The Many Ways Sharon Unknowingly Tried To Sabotage The Proposal)