The night was cold and starry two days before Valentines day. Picking Doreen up from work, I went for a haircut and then proceeded to bring a friend of ours dinner who had broken her leg on Christmas eve. We then left Berthoud, CO and drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park in the dark. She probably thought I was crazy being it was late and still an hour drive away but I told her that I wanted to give her Valentine's present to her early. But to really set this up, you need the whole story.
Just after we started dating, Doreen had taken me up there, also in the middle of the night, and we took a moonlight walk around the lake. As we sat on the boardwalk overlooking the lake, the breeze blowing through the tall grass, we both watched a shooting star fly across the sky horizon to horizon. It was one of the most awesome sights we had ever seen.
So here we are on another moonlight stroll around the lake. Unfortunately for me now, it is the middle of winter. It was extremely cold and with the wind blowing, probably around 0. I started by giving her 12 red roses, for Valentine's day of course. Every God fearing (and woman fearing) man gives roses to his sweetheart on Valentine's day. But then I gave her a 13th white rose at the lake. Friday the 13th was the day of our 1st date and for sure now my lucky number. A little poetry and star gazing ensued as I said "My Valentine's gift to you is the giving of memories". And that was it.
Being cold and she thinking we were done, we started to walk back to the truck when I told her that "Oh, I had forgot something" and dropped to one knee. I don't know whether it was the cold or the shock of it all that made her not answer right away. I had no problem staying warm though, sweating it out for what seemed like minutes, when she finally said yes... |
