The best "yes" I'll ever say

(of course this glamour shot is from our engagement session and not the rainy evening it happened)

When it comes to Maeghan and I, I am hands down the mushy, over-emotional, sappy, romantic one. However, Maeghan went over-the-top romantic the night she proposed to me. 

On a surprisingly cold and windy Friday evening early in May, Maeghan told me she'd be late coming home since she was having after work drinks with a friend. That was fine since I'd made plans to hangout with a friend after work as well. My friend Bryan arrived at Maeghan and I's apartment and was in the strangest mood but I didn't think anything of it. He was insistent that we go for a walk even though it was freezing cold and raining. Somehow, after 15 minutes of arguing, he convinced me to go. 

When we started walking Bryan turned to me and asked, "where's your car?". Slightly confused I responded, "obviously in the parking garage". He began begging me to go upstairs and get the keys so that we could drive to where he wanted to go for a walk. At this point I'm so annoyed but for whatever reason I oblige without assuming anything is out of the ordinary. After getting a little lost, and with the wind picking up, we pulled up to a hiking/biking trail near the Ottawa River. We parked the car and started to walk. Bryan was so incredibly preoccupied and hardly listening to me but still, I was more annoyed than confused and had no idea what was about to happen next. 

As we continued, I noticed we were headed towards one of my favourite spots; the trail we were on crossed this beautiful abandoned train bridge that spanned the Ottawa River from Ontario to Quebec. A bit happier with the walking trail he had picked, I turned to Bryan and asked if we could walk down the bridge; he stood silently, smiling ear to ear. When I turned back around, I noticed a person surrounded by candles standing a few meters down the bridge. My heart dropped, and my eyes filled with tears as I began to recognize the red shirt the beautiful girl on the bridge was wearing. The girl, that girl, was my girl and she was waiting in the freezing cold for me.

I began walking slowly towards Maeghan (slowly so I could work on catching my breath and wiping the tears from my face). As I reached her, she held out her hand, pulled me in, and hugged me. She told me some of the most heartfelt and wonderful things while I cried and laughed, and all of a sudden she was down on one knee 50ft over the Ottawa River asking me "will you marry me?" I nodded and knelt down to her level to give her a kiss and tell her what will forever be the best "YES!" I will ever say.

(a real photo from the night it happened!)

Just when I thought it couldn't get any sweeter, Maeghan hustled me back down the trail to our car as there was a table waiting for us at our favourite restaurant (that doesn't hold tables by the way - thanks Gemma!)

After a few more tears were shed during telephone calls with our parents and siblings, we made our way to the restaurant. Maeghan explained that Katherine, my best friend, sends her apologies that she won't be able to make it out. Then, that little romantic did it again; as I strolled into the restaurant, eyes down staring at my shiny new rock, I heard a familiar voice squeal. It was Katherine, and she was waiting at our table with a bottle of champagne ready to celebrate the happiest night of our lives with us!

Remembering that night makes my heart beat out of my chest, and I'm pretty darn sure it always will.