|
It was a beautiful night. The sky was clear, the weather was warm, and all the farm animals were rearing to go. We were at the Painted Pony Rodeo in upstate New York.
Our first time at the rodeo was great! As New Yorkers (city folk), we only heard about the bronco riding, calf roping and horse agility contests at the rodeo. Experiencing it all was awesome and, yet, incredibly strange. We were having such I good time that during intermission I snuck away to talk to someone who worked at the rodeo about proposing. They dug it.
When I got back to my seat, Ilana was enjoying the half time Texas-style laso demonstrations, totally unware of the scheme behind the scenes. Next, the MC announced the winner of the 50/50 raffle. Then, as he walked across the field to the stands, he announced, "And we also have another winner in the audience. Can Ben Marcus please stand up? Wait till you folks see what this guy just won..."
I stood and walked to the front of the bleachers and took the microphone from the MC, and said "Ilana, could you please stand up..." A gasp, and then a hush fell over the crowd. I could see the expressions of the people in the stands. Some were complete shock, as if they couldn't believe someone would choose a rodeo. Some were sighing- giving out that awwwwww feeling. And some were still trying to figure out was I had just 'won'.
I went on, in true rodeo style, "Baby, we've been together for a while now, and you're the love of my life. Will you marry me?"
I could hear even more gasps throughout the stands, but all I could see was the smile on Ilana's face. We met with a big hug on the stairs on the bleachers with people cheering around us. I put the ring on her finger, we kissed, and then sat back down in our seats.
We were surrounded by a large family from Boston who congratulated us and took pictures. And they said things like, "we thought you got a gift certificate," and "you guys were just sitting right next to us!"
It was a wonderful second proposal.
The first, real, proposal took place earlier in the day. We were watching butterflies in a field by our house in upstate New York. There were a few clouds in the sky, and when they broke for a moment I asked Ilana to marry me and be with me forever. And she said yes.
|