and she said “yes”…

Two years ago, Melissa and I met and my life was never the same again.

How the proposal happened according to Melissa:

“Let’s go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium”, Rikki said. “They have the Secret Lives of Seahorses exhibit that’s ending soon.” It was a pretty standard plan for the weekend; Rikki and I like to drive out for our mini photo trips and enjoy the weather outdoors.

We left a little after noon to make the drive down to Monterey, and Rikki, as usual, brought his cameras for both of us to use. We arrived at the Aquarium at around two in the afternoon mainly to see the new white shark exhibit and our favorite, the nettle jellyfish. Rikki was largely excited to photograph the seahorses, especially the dragon ones with their camouflage that makes them look like seaweed. It was extremely nice out that day; not too hot nor too chilly, though Rikki complained that it was too warm inside the aquarium.

Little did I know why he was feeling a little ill at the time.

After leaving the aquarium for the day, we decided to head down to Carmel, to sit by the water, much as we did on our first trip down this beautiful patch of the Pacific Coast. With each a cup of hot chocolate and macaroons in hand, we found a little spot on the beach and watched the big waves come crashing in.

The whole time Rikki kept asking to go further into a quieter part of the beach, which I thought was quite ridiculous since there were only two other families on the dune we were sitting on. So finally, with a slight bit of hesitation, I agreed to go higher up the dune into a more secluded spot.

When I was becoming impatient to leave, Rikki put down his camera bag and said, “Wait! There’s this…” then I saw the black lacquer box. My vision blurred, tears welled in my eyes, and I started crying. I could barely see Rikki as he went down on one knee and said the four words I’d been waiting to hear, “Will you marry me?”

“Yes. I will marry you!”

In a flurry of words and tears, we hugged and cried and laughed and hugged again.

Afterward, Rikki told me that he had been trying all afternoon to find the right time, and that it wasn’t exactly the way he had planned it. He couldn’t even remember what he’d said as he knelt down to ask me to marry him. With a smile on my face, I told him that the least-planned things in life are often the best, and the most memorable.

Monterey and Carmel will always have a special place in our hearts.