The Proposal - Condensed Version

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From Chris’s perspective:

“How did he propose???”  Seems to be the first question people ask after they find out you’re engaged.  I thought that just any old proposal wouldn’t do because it wouldn’t make much of a story.  Well, it ended up being more of a story than I bargained for…

It was during the summer of 2005 that I thought to myself this year would be a perfect time to get engaged somewhere tropical in the fall.  At the start of October we booked our trip to Cuba for the end of November.

According to Monique, a friend had asked her if she thought I was going to propose to her in Cuba.  Her response:  “I don’t think he could get organized enough to do that.”

At the airport our good friends at Air Transat said:  “Sorry, but your carry-on is too heavy.  You’ll have to check it in.”   I had hid the ring in the carry-on luggage.  So off the luggage went, down the conveyor belt…  with the ring inside. 

We arrived in Cuba and our luggage showed up (with ring inside!).  I hid the ring in the safe at the hotel and planned to propose to Monique later in the week.

My plan was to take out a catamaran (with a guide steering as we couldn’t take it out ourselves) and stop up the coast a bit at a secluded beach where I would propose.  We get to the shop and the catamaran guy says:  “I’m sorry but the waves are too rough.  We can’t go out today.”  But then he turns to me and says, “Did you want to look at the cigars I have.” 

He returns from the back room a minute later with a plastic bag and some stuff in it.  I suggest to Monique that we go for a walk down the beach.  We get to a rocky point that jutts out into the ocean.  As we get closer, we notice a guy is hanging around, wanting to be our ‘friend’.  Monique is getting a little uncomfortable but I’m hoping that he’ll just leave.  Nope, he sticks to us like glue.  Eventually, we have to walk back towards the resort.

As we walk back, I tell Monique that we should have a seat on a log on the beach and just relax for a bit.  She sits down and I say, “Do you want to look at the cigars that I got?”  Monique responds, “I guess so.”  She starts looking through the bag thinking “What does he need more cigars for? He doesn’t even smoke!” and says:  “I think you got taken. There aren’t any cigars here, just a bunch of newspapers and some flowers…” 

At this point, I was on one knee with the ring out in front of me with a look of despair on my face.   I told her that things on our adventures don’t always work out as planned, but would she still marry me.

Monique: I always thought I’d have something smart to say at that moment, but the distressed look on his face, as all his plans had not turned out, made me say “Of course.”