BABE!!! I LOVE YOU! |
The BEST Mystery Date EVER. . .
It was a crisp, sunny Sunday as we drove out of the parking garage of our apartment. North? South? East? West? That first turn is always the first big clue to the date ahead. As it turned out (no pun intended), we headed North... past the Ball Park, past the Transamerica Building, and over the Golden Gate Bridge. Where, oh where could we be going...
Flash back (2) weeks. . .
I had scheduled a lunch with Kathleen's parent under the guise of discussing details of an upcoming trip to New Orleans. As we sat outside the in the back patio, I became very nervous as the meal came to a close. Though I knew the answer, my anxiousness bubbled from the real question I had come to ask. I drew a deep breath, straightened in my seat, and then asked for their blessing on my proposal to marry Kathleen. Without missing a beat, they both happily gave their blessing and congratulatory euphoria erupted. Kathleen’s grandmother had left a family ring perfect for the proposal in Susan's care. As she handed over the ring, the reality of my situation began to set in. Was I really going to propose to Kathleen?
Fast forward to the Thursday night before our Mystery Date. . .
In our one bedroom apartment overlooking the Bay and AT&T Park, we sat on the couch after dinner, ready to settle in for a relaxing evening. One moment, our banter was lighthearted, and the next Kathleen had deftly transformed it into a conversation about the next level of our relationship, specifically if/when we were going to get married.
I had scheduled a lunch with Kathleen's parent under the guise of discussing details of an upcoming trip to New Orleans. As we sat outside the in the back patio, I became very nervous as the meal came to a close. Though I knew the answer, my anxiousness bubbled from the real question I had come to ask. I drew a deep breath, straightened in my seat, and then asked for their blessing on my proposal to marry Kathleen. Without missing a beat, they both happily gave their blessing and congratulatory euphoria erupted. Kathleen’s grandmother had left a family ring perfect for the proposal in Susan's care. As she handed over the ring, the reality of my situation began to set in. Was I really going to propose to Kathleen?
Fast forward to the Thursday night before our Mystery Date. . .
In our one bedroom apartment overlooking the Bay and AT&T Park, we sat on the couch after dinner, ready to settle in for a relaxing evening. One moment, our banter was lighthearted, and the next Kathleen had deftly transformed it into a conversation about the next level of our relationship, specifically if/when we were going to get married.
Wait, what?
Ruh roh. How did she know? Was this like Lord of the Rings and could she sense the ring in the storage unit downstairs? Holy cow she is good. Wait, what if she doesn’t know… play it cool I thought. I sheepishly responded with the stereotypical male waffling, “I am not sure I am ready for marriage, I want to give this more time”. Here we go… to cut a long story short, we ended up agreeing to talk more about it in 6 months. Whew! I can’t believe I just threw her scent off the trail!
Fast forward to Saturday morning. . .
Kathleen and I ran our first 5k race at the inaugural Oakland Running Festival around Lake Merritt. It was a fun event that has nothing to do with the MD, I just wanted to document on the interwebs that I have actually run a 5k.
Back to the MD. . .
Passing the "Welcome to Sonoma" sign, Kathleen excitedly guessed, “Wine tasting?”.
“Maaaayyyyybbbbbeeee” was my response (this is actually always the response to guesses) as we pulled into the Sonoma Valley Airport parking lot.
“An airplane ride?!?!?!" she emphatically guessed.
“We, my dear, are going on an aerial tour of Sonoma Valley from the open cockpit of a WWII Bi-plane!!!”
“Are you serious?” she exclaimed as a look of sheer delight mixed with terror overtook her face.
Fast forward to Saturday morning. . .
Kathleen and I ran our first 5k race at the inaugural Oakland Running Festival around Lake Merritt. It was a fun event that has nothing to do with the MD, I just wanted to document on the interwebs that I have actually run a 5k.
Back to the MD. . .
Passing the "Welcome to Sonoma" sign, Kathleen excitedly guessed, “Wine tasting?”.
“Maaaayyyyybbbbbeeee” was my response (this is actually always the response to guesses) as we pulled into the Sonoma Valley Airport parking lot.
“An airplane ride?!?!?!" she emphatically guessed.
“We, my dear, are going on an aerial tour of Sonoma Valley from the open cockpit of a WWII Bi-plane!!!”
“Are you serious?” she exclaimed as a look of sheer delight mixed with terror overtook her face.
| We walked over to registration and checked in. It was here that Kathleen learned the tour I selected would also include an acrobatic ending full of barrel rolls, loop de loops, and other aerial shenanigans my inner 10-year old pilot had always wanted to do. We suited up with official jackets, head caps, and of course, parachutes (yikes!) and headed to the pre-flight safety talk. Once that was done, we walked up to the gleaming red 1942 Boeing Stearman and marveled at the work of art. |  Parachute! |
We jumped into the cockpit, which was roomy for one, but tight for us both. Fortunately we were used to snuggling in tight spaces and frankly, the snug fit added a feeling of security. Our pilot sat behind us and gave us a toothy grin and a thumbs up as he fired up the engine and taxied to the runway. The raw power of the engine and twirling of the propellors were at once noisy, visceral, and exhilarating as we hit full throttle and hurtled into the air. The open cockpit forced a new connection to flying never before experienced and we were all grins as a result.
The day was sunny and the valley was green. Everything from high in the sky was more beautiful than we had ever seen as we cruised at altitude around the valley for about 20 minutes. The flight was surprisingly smooth for a 68 year old machine, right up until we banked hard right. I knew we were in for the ride of our life and the smile on Kathleen’s face agreed with me. We went up, we went down, we went sideways, we went upside down. We may have even gone backwards. It was as glorious as my 10 year old self had always imagined. We giggled uncontrollably as we swooped through the sky.
As we leveled out from our last acrobatic maneuver, we beelined back to the airport and lined up with the runway. Our landing approach felt like we were going a million miles an hour with all the adrenaline coursing through our veins… but our pilot nailed the landing and we touched down effortlessly. It was now or never as I yanked out the ring box, popped it open and yelled over at Kathleen, “BABE!!! I LOVE YOU!” She looked over with a grin already at max capacity and realized what was happening. The grin got impossibly bigger as has her mind feverishly processed what was happening, yelling over and over, “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! WHAT?!?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! WHAT?!?!”. Finally she said the word I wanted to hear, “YES!”, and then followed with, “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!” a few more times for good measure. As the biplane rolled to a stop, I took the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger. The deal was sealed and now it was time to frolic in the swirling, euphoric feelings and celebrate the forging of our union.
 |  |
We climbed back into the car just in time to hear MSU (Go Green!) beat Tennessee for a Final Four berth while we drove next door to Viansa Winery to celebrate. We called our family and friends to share the news, tasted wine, joined the wine club, and bought a couple cases of wine (how could we not?).
And that my friends, is how the BEST Mystery Date EVER came to be. :D
