The Engagement

Mary and Jack started dating in October of 2004. When they started to realize that they might end up together, Mary light-heartedly began joking that she did not need any fancy diamond ring for a proposal and that she would say "yes" to a ring from a vending machine. This became a long-running joke between the two of them.

 

In late October 2007, right around the time they were to celebrate three years of being together, Jack began to search for the ring. At the same time, Jack decided that he would play off of the vending machine ring joke by using it for the proposal. A few days after a quick search on eBay, a toy vending machine was delivered to him at work and his plan started to come together. After about three weeks of searching and talking to various jewelers, he finally found the perfect ring. There was one more task though before he could be sure. He had to ask Mary's parents for their blessing.

 

On Saturday, December 1, 2007, Jack travelled from Chicago to Homer Glen (a suburb of Chicago) to visit Mary's parents. It was the first really big snow of the year and driving conditions were less than optimal.  After much time and a quick stop to pick up lunch for the three of them, he finally arrived.  During the visit, Mary’s parents informed Jack that their engagement took place while taking in a spectacular view of downtown Chicago from the Adler Planetarium. Jack stored this fact away since he knew how he was going to propose, but had not finalized the location.   The three enjoyed the afternoon in sharing memories and discussing possibilities for the future. And Jack got what he came for – he received the blessing from Mary’s parents to ask her to marry him.  Now he was ready to pick up the ring.

 

The following Wednesday, December 5, 2007, Mary's engagement ring was ready. Jack picked it up from Jewelers Row on Wabash in downtown Chicago, and was more excited than ever. He had the ring, his props, and the location, only thing that remained undecided was the time. Fortunately, December was ripe with potential. Mary's birthday was on the 23rd, and Christmas was only two days later. Additionally, their friends were gathering for Mary's birthday on Friday, December 21st, and Jack was taking her to see the Phantom of the Opera, a long time wish of Mary's, the following Saturday. Because all of the aforementioned events were taking place, Jack decided that to be sure the proposal remained a surprise, none of these occasions were suitable. The proposal had to be at a completely random time and place.

 

On Wednesday, December 19, 2007, Mary and Jack decided to have dinner at the place where the upcoming birthday celebration was to occur. The two enjoyed chicken wings, artichoke cheese dip, and drinks. At about 8:30, they left with plans to do a couple last-minute Christmas errands. The second they got in the car, Jack began to let his plan unfold.

 

"Oh, I completely forgot! At work today, we were talking about when we were kids and used to drive around with our families to look at Christmas lights. Somehow that conversation turned into one on seeing great views of the city skyline at night, and someone mentioned that there is a spectacular view from the planetarium. Do you want to check it out really quick before we run our errands?"

 

Both being loyal Chicagoans and knowing that they both enjoy great views of the skyline, Mary thought nothing unusual of the request and happily agreed to the mini-adventure. Fortunately for Jack, she was also unaware of her parents' engagement story at the planetarium. Confident in his plan, Jack made normal conversation with Mary during the drive, all the while he was sending and receiving text messages from his friend, Steve, who was positioned in front of the planetarium and awaiting the go-ahead from Jack. Right at the last turn before the final stretch to the planetarium, a favorite song of Mary's was playing on Jack's iPod (a playlist that Jack created that day for the occasion). Mary made a comment that the view, the song, and the night would make for a very nice proposal. In the most serious of demeanors, Jack turned to Mary and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that is definitely not what is going to happen here tonight.  I really just wanted to go and check out the view."

 

This reaction caused Mary to immediately feel guilty for the suggestion because she had only said that to be sarcastic and then wondered if somehow she had ruined the possibilities of a future proposal taking place here.  Of course, Jack knew at that point that because she felt so guilty, she was far too distracted to again think of proposals that night.

 

The original plan was that Jack would let Steve know when he and Mary were five minutes away. Steve would then place the toy vending machine in a pre-determined location in front of the planetarium. Due to a mis-interpreted text message from Steve, however, Jack thought that Steve had already placed the vending machine and that everything was all set. So when Mary and Jack pulled the car around into a parking spot facing the skyline, Jack saw Steve in his rearview mirror sprinting across the street with the vending machine in his arms! Knowing that he had slightly faltered in his plan, Jack had to stall for a few minutes. He made idle chit-chat with Mary as five minutes passed. He had not seen Steve again in his rearview mirror, so he had hoped Steve had been successful and returned to his car.

 

The couple bundled up to prepare for the cold and wind, and exited the car towards the lake. The view was indeed spectacular, but not completely clear with a bus stop and trees in the way. So they continued to walk towards the planetarium and away from the obstructions.

 

As they walked towards the planetarium, Mary began to wonder why they were walking away from the view, instead of towards it. She only had a few moments for the thought, though, as they shortly arrived at their destination.

 

Jack turned from the view to one of five round marble seats that were placed in a semi-circle outside of the planetarium. Upon the stone seat, was placed a coin-operated toy vending machine. Mary's first thought was how nice of an idea it was to have the toy vending machines on each of the stone seats for children that visited the planetarium for field trips. Upon further inspection, however, she realized that the toy capsules were all empty. "What a cruel joke! A poor child puts a quarter in thinking he's getting a toy, but they're all empty!" she exclaimed.

 

Not a moment after the words escaped her mouth, did she notice that there were no other vending machines; there was just this one. "Let's see what we get," Jack said as he took a quarter from his pocket, placed it in the machine, and turned the knob.

 

"This is a joke, right? You are kidding. This has to be a joke." was all Mary could manage as she began to comprehend the situation, but Jack said nothing. He withdrew the toy capsule from the machine and held it up for Mary to see. Inside was a diamond ring.

 

After a moment of observation, Jack popped open the capsule, dropped down on one knee, offered the ring to Mary and said, "I love you, Mary. Will you marry me?"

 

"YES!" she exclaimed, without a moment of hesitation, and pulled Jack up quickly to give him a hug. Jack then placed the ring on Mary's finger!

 

After several minutes and a long embrace, the two spent a few quick minutes taking some photographs before returning to the place where Steve was parked just across the street. He offered his congratulations and Jack offered his gratitude for the assistance.

 

Mary and Jack then sat in the warmth of Jack's car for over an hour while re-living the moments leading up to the proposal and sharing a mini bottle of champagne before calling their immediate family members to share the news.

 

The next day, they each had their holiday parties for their respective offices. Mary's birthday celebration on that Friday became a mini-engagement party. They saw the Phantom of the Opera on Saturday and celebrated Christmas with their families the next Monday and Tuesday. The New Year celebration will bring the end of a perfect holiday season and the beginning of the wedding planning!!