A Samurai Engagement

Just when I thought that our love story could not be anymore of a fairytale this happened...

On Friday afternoon, as we prepared to go to the Samurai Exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, John suggested I wear a Chinese silk cocktail dress with intricate stockings he bought earlier that day to wear that night (he knows I love fancy stockings). All dolled-up and ready to leave, having put in an extra effort to arrange my hair in a beautiful up-do (which I very rarely do these days) to show off the elegant style of the back of the dress, he looked at me strangely. Uncertain of his feeling, I asked if he liked my hair, showing him how it showed off the dress so nicely. To my total shock he somewhat nervously said he would prefer my hair down, after checking that it was not too much effort to do so. Surprised he did not like the elegant look, I took it down but honestly did not think twice about it afterwards as we were both so looking forward to this exotic exhibition that we had been talking about attending for months and had bought tickets to weeks in advance. Well, it was worth the wait. This private collection of Samurai armor, antiquities and artifacts were nothing less than exquisite. Roaming the halls as if floating in slow motion, listening to the eloquently described and sound effect filled recorded explanations, I was in my element taking in every ounce of the rich cultural experience.

Mid-way, John suggested we take a picture together but rather than looking at the camera, held by our friend Kevin, he turned to me and started to explain that I could not wear my hair up earlier because I was not yet engaged. I was so confused. All of a sudden John bent down on one knee and asked me to marry him! Speechless, it hit me what was happening. As he pulled out a little black box I began to quiver in joy. After placing the engraved engagement ring on my finger and giving me a matching one to place on his finger, John went back to speaking about my hair, and took out a Chinese gift box my mum had sent me from Shanghai which held a gift of a wooden Chinese hair pin which is only to be worn when a woman is betrothed. John had been "hiding it", ok. holding on to it, for the past two months! As per the Chinese tradition, now being betrothed to my beloved, I could wear the pin, so John, as he perfectly planned it, sweetly rolled my hair up in a bun, securing the pin ever so gently.

By now my heart was pounding, my eyes filled with happy tears and I was sniffling through uncontrollable giggles. All I wanted to do was rejoice in delight but being in a quiet, dignified exhibition, I had to contain my excitement. A security guard near by, who came over to congratulate us, must have told his colleagues through his radio because as we walked through the rest of the exhibit, me hopelessly trying so hard to be quiet and concentrate on the rest of the collection, the museum staff congratulated us on our engagement. You can imagine the shrills that came of me for the next 4 hours as we bought souvenirs for our family in the gift shop to commemorate the evening and then on to a Japanese dinner with our friend Kevin visiting from Arizona who helped make the surprise just perfect.

John Masters, the man I cherish, respect and adore with every fiber of my being who brings out the very best in me, planned and pulled off brilliantly the most thoughtful, unique, perfectly us and romantic evening of my life. Hopelessly in love and blissfully happy I am thrilled to say we are engaged!