My Engagement: Real or Unreal?

As if getting engaged wasn't obnoxious enough, now I am going blog about it. Play-by-play. Read on, if you dare. Regarding gag reflexes and vomiting on your computer screen, may the odds be ever in your favor.

“You have to come down to the Auditorium. Ms. Q wants to talk to us.” Melissa seems frantic and stressed out, similar to earlier that morning. I glance up at the clock. 10:40am. Ugh, why? I have 15 minutes left in my prep and I really need to get this stuff ready for next week. I follow her down to the auditorium. I wonder why we need to go there. Melissa is walking really quickly. She also won’t look at me. We reach the auditorium and the doors are closed. The few adults standing outside are looking at me. My palms sweat a little bit. Why are they…

 

We go in. The lights are off. Velvet curtains closed. I see a tripod and a video camera. My heart is racing now. Melissa ushers me to the front and sits me down. I can’t breathe. It’s happening. This is it. Why didn’t I take a shower this morning? I feel weak and fiddle with my dirty hair. Then I hear it. My alarm in the morning. One of my favorite songs. “Marry You” by Bruno Mars.

Holy crap.

The curtains open and the greatest man I know stands there. He is smiling at me. He is so handsome. My heart bursts. So do my ocular floodgates. I quickly wipe away my tears so my vision isn’t blurred. I see familiar photo booth pictures on his t-shirt. MINNIE + DAN. 04.27.2012. I would scream but that would interrupt his performance. I point and clap instead. Dan is singing his heart out to me. He looks really happy. And he sounds great. I am laughing, crying, and yelling at myself to stay focused. I do not want to miss any moment of this! He says things like NYU, Giants, Superbowl… and then the best words: I think I wanna marry you.

After the chorus, he stops and says that he needs his friends to come out and help him sing. “Come on out, guys!” Hopping in from both sides, smiling from ear to ear, are my precious first graders. They are wearing t-shirts that match Dan’s. I want a t-shirt! They sing with Dan, following his dance movements, smiling, jumping. “ ‘Cause it’s a beautiful night!” Some are looking at me, some are looking at Dan. Everyone is happy. I am too excited to cry anymore. My students look so cute! My hands are clapping and shaking. There goes my heart again. Burst. 

Dan comes off stage, takes my hand, and brings me up. My legs are completely weak but Dan’s hands are strong and steady. He gets down on one knee, cueing my students to do the same. He says, “Minyoung, I love you with all my heart.” He is tearing up. “Will you marry me?”

YES! YES! Say YES!

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“Yes!” I say again, into the microphone.

We hug, we kiss, and we smile at each other. Words cannot describe the explosions in my chest. 

I am in love. 

I am ecstatic. 

I am engaged.