Thirty-six years ago, on Sands Beach near UC Santa Barbara, Ken proposed. For much longer than 36 years, I’ve been a gal who swoons over an engagement proposal tale. They are fun to read in books, excellent to watch on television or in the movies and make terrific lyrics.
Taylor Swift’s catchy song “Love Story” encapsulates a journey toward marriage so sweetly with that bebopping tune and fairytale finish. The song provides an alternative happy ending that we all wished for, in Romeo and Juliet. Sigh, so lovely. In real life, I have happily witnessed some magical proposals both of people I know and total strangers.
Last summer, we were strolling the waterfront in Avalon on Catalina Island and came upon the staging of a proposal just seconds before it happened. There were rose petals abundantly strewn, candles lighting the boardwalk, and neon signs beaming “I Love You” and “Will You?” We smiled ear to ear with our eyes glued as he asked, and she said “Yes.”
In 2012, when my then Girl Scout troop took our graduation trip to England, 15 girls and 6 moms rode the giant London Eye Ferris Wheel, crowded into one pod. Right before us, a couple got on a privately reserved pod, and we watched as they boarded with champagne in hand. As we looped skyward, we saw him get on one knee, speak for a while, looking at her in the most sincere way. We saw her smiling and nodding jubilantly, leaping into his arms as she said “Yes.” Our pod erupted in cheers, tears, and vicarious celebration.
We assisted with our son-in-law’s proposal to our daughter by making sure a photographer was there to capture the moment. The proposal took place next to the ocean at a location that has been very special to our family for decades. In fact, It is the same spot where just a year before, they had told one another they wanted to be together forever. Photographer hidden away, sunset approached and with words from the heart, full of romance, our Girl Scout had a proposal from a man she loves. Our baby, she said “Yes.”
Lucky me, my favorite story of all, is my own. With college graduation on the horizon for me and grad school finishing for Ken, conversations around marriage began in earnest. I expressed how important a potential proposal would be since this would be a story we would tell for the rest of our lives. My wish was for it to be epic and memorable. We began to look at rings and he was given Ira’s phone number, a longtime family friend of my parents, who created custom jewelry.
We had made weekend plans for a bike ride to the beach for a picnic. We set up the blanket in the dunes, put out some snacks and opened some bubbly which was and still is, our adult beverage of choice. Unbeknownst to me, it was about to be my turn.
He handed me a handwritten letter on notebook paper (which is a treasure I still have). At the top of the page in capital letters, he had written “INSTRUCTIONS: #1. Give Letter.” What followed was a full page of the most beautiful words expressing his love and reasons why we are a great match. At the bottom, the instructions continued, “#2. Look Up.” Huh? By now, I had figured out that something big was about to happen, but look up? Just then, the hum of a small airplane was within earshot. Within a moment or two it came into sight. It flew right over where we were sitting and had a long waving banner trailing that said, “I love you, Bonnie Scher.”
Wow! I looked from him to the sky, back and forth. It was such a surprise and the grandest of gestures. He had brought a small film camera, and we fortunately captured a distant photo of the plane with the banner. This picture hangs in a frame in our bedroom. “#3. Give Ring.” He got on his knee, opened a velvet box revealing the ring that he had designed himself based on what we had seen and liked, and had been made by Ira. Ken made it epic and memorable and love story worthy and baby, I said “Yes.”
We got married a year later, in 1989. The same year, “Love Story” singer and songwriter extraordinaire Taylor Swift was born. We will celebrate our 35th anniversary this summer and hope to see her Eras show to mark the occasion. It should be noted that the concert is my wish, not his. My wise husband, the wish granter, knows that the best way to continue the love story is to just say “Yes.”
