One of Life's Greatest Moments

Here is a detailed account of one of the best days (mornings) of my entire life. People always say that women dream about their wedding day from the time they are young. Well, I always dreamed of the way I would propose to the woman I wanted to be mine forever. As a child I remember listening to my dad explain how he asked my mother to marry him. The night he proposed, he serenaded her and ended with a song he had written especially for her. At the end of the song, he popped the question.

Being a helpless romantic at heart, I always viewed my parent’s engagement as very tender and personal, and decided that was the way I would to propose to the woman I wanted to spend the rest of eternity with. My dream came true on Thursday, May 11, 2006.

There is not enough time or space for me to explain to all of you in detail about Yunuen. The Reader’s Digest version is that I met her 3 years ago when I came down to check out the Master’s program and fell in love. We remained in contact for a long time, writing each other while she was on her mission. I fell completely in love with her, but never told anyone. I didn’t want to get my hopes up by telling the entire world that I was in love with an amazing LDS girl from Guadalajara (plus, I didn’t feel like I could deal with all the usual questions people tend to ask when a situation like that arises). As is the tendency, life happens, and Yuni and I gradually lost contact. When I arrived for the program things were a little awkward between us at first, but since we became the best of friends. There was never any doubt in my mind about my love for her, or that fact that I deeply desired to marry her one-day. You can imagine my elation when I discovered she felt the same way!

So, little by little I began planning how I would propose. I had asked my great friend Jaxon Spencer (who is the most amazing metal-worker and jeweler alive) to make Yuni’s wedding ring. The problem is, he is in Utah and so is the ring. Therefore, I designed a ring that has a white gold teddy bear holding a yellow gold heart with a special message on the inside of the band, and had it specially made for her. Then, I started trying to compose a song in English to propose. It ended up that I wrote two songs: one in English and one in Spanish. (I kind of like the Spanish one more.) Everything was ready.

On the morning of the 10th, I bought 2 dozen roses. When the florist found out what they were for, he carefully picked out his 24 best roses and made an amazing arrangement with them. I purposely made sure not to see her almost the entire day (you know, absence makes the heart grow fonder!). That night at 11:45 pm I arrived to her home. Her mother was waiting for me. We set everything up downstairs, arranging the flowers, and putting the loveseat where I could easily sing to her. At 11:59 pm, I slowly crept out to their back yard and text-messaged her. It said, “Amor, HAPPY B-DAY! Asómate por la ventana de tu cuarto...” (Which means, “look out your bedroom window.”) Then I began playing on the guitar and singing a song called, “Despierta.” It’s a typical song used to begin serenades. Her light flipped on and she went running to the window. When I was through with the song, she said, “Hello, Guapo!” I sang a few other songs while she was in her window, and then she went downstairs.

I had her sit on the loveseat and I gave her a little notebook I had made up with a letter and the words to the songs I was singing to her. On each song I wrote a description of why I was singing it to her. I then sang “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds, a song that is important to both of us. After that, I sang “Hello, It’s Me” by Todd Rundgren. That was the song my father sang to my mother before the song he wrote to propose. I asked her to read what I had written about the song. then I sang “Today and Forever (Yuni’s Song)” the song I wrote for her in English, and “Mi pieza final” the song I wrote for her in Spanish. While I was singing, she was teary eyed. She looked so beautiful.

At the end of “Mi pieza final,” I got down on my knees and told her I loved her more than anything else in this world. Then, with tears in my eyes, I asked her to marry me. She said, “Yes!! Yes!! Oh, yes!!” and threw her arms around me. Then she gave me the tenderest kiss I have ever received in my life.

I reached into the couch cushion where I had hidden her ring and matching earrings and showed them to her. She gasped again and said they were beautiful. I slipped it on her finger and she put her earrings on. Then I just sat and looked at her. She looked so beautiful sitting there without makeup and in her pajamas. It was one of the greatest moments of my life.