Blogger Folarin Kolawole shares his romantic proposal story & pics
How We Met
We met in 2012. I had started working in Port-Harcourt then as a
geoscientist and I was on the field most of the time; I was single and
meeting new babes was a serious challenge for me. Chika, one of my close
friends in Lagos, who wanted me to get serious started hooking me up
with different ladies whom he thought matched some major specs I had
given him earlier. Some of my cousins also tried hooking me up with
their friends. I had one complaint or another about each of the ladies,
but I made sure I kept a good relationship with all of them. At a point,
I got tired of all the match-making thing and made up my mind not to
entertain anymore hook-ups.
On
24th March, 2012, Chika called me up again and told me about this cool
girl he wanted me to meet. I told him I wasn't interested, but he
managed to convince me to give it a shot. I finally agreed and he sent
me the lady's phone number. I called her that night and I heard the
calmest female voice I have ever heard in my life. I introduced myself
and we talked a little. She was very polite, simple, funny and cool.
Having previously dated different ladies, I had learnt not to get too
excited with a good first impression. Ladies can be very deceptive when
they're out to make a guy fall for them. So, I thought this one would
likely just be like all the previous hook-ups, but I didn't mind having a
little more fun before cutting off. Some days later, I called her again
and we spoke for about thirty minutes. It was as if we had known each
other for years. There was consistency in her tone of voice, oral
mannerisms etc. I was specially skilled in making ladies tell me a lot
about themselves before I tell them anything about myself, and
unfortunately most of them fell for the bait. Some even seemed to prefer
to talk about themselves and take over most of the conversation than to
listen or learn anything about the new friend they are bringing into
their lives. It was not the case with this new lady. She made me talk,
asking me questions that made me give out some details about my personal
life that I rarely tell strangers. She was quite interested in my
personality and I couldn't hold back since she was quite open about her
own personality. I started enjoying talking to her, so much that I
looked forward to every evening when I would call her after work. We
talked everyday- sometimes one hour, other times over an hour. I
deliberately didn't ask if she had a blackberry phone, because I felt it
would create over-familiarity too soon, which I wanted to avoid. I also
didn't want to see her photos or whatever she looked like, too early so
that it wouldn't affect my judgement. I also didn't ask her for her
surname or tell her mine so that none of us would be tempted to go and
do facebook forensics too early.
However,
after almost two weeks of continuous communication, we had gotten so
close that we both knew we were becoming good friends. She suddenly
asked if I had a BB and I couldn't deny. She got offended wondering why I
preferred to waste money calling everyday and never even bothered to
ask if she was on BB. I apologized and claimed that it skipped my mind.
She added me to her BB contacts and we exchanged each other's photos. I
was a little happy that she looked pretty and she also teased me that
she was glad I did't look too bad. At that point, the blackberry
connection further strengthened our friendship because we could then
communicate at any time of the day. After about two months of continuous
communication, both of us had become convinced that we really liked
each other and would be very close friends for a very long time. So, we
decided to meet face-to-face. I took three days off from work and went
to Lagos to see her (16th-18th May, 2012). We met at Ocean View
Restaurant in Victoria Island on the first day (16th May).
I fell for her immediately she walked into the restaurant. She looked
awesome, beautiful and charming. We ate and chatted like we did on phone
and BBM. She was humble, intelligent in speech and decent in mannerism.
I studied her through out the date. We met at different restaurants on
subsequent days and I asked her out on the third date. I went back to
port-Harcourt and we continued communicating on phone as usual. I
returned to Lagos on my birthday, 25th June, 2012, took her out on a
date and she agreed to go out with me. That was how it all started.
The Proposal
After
two years of dating, I decided to pop the big question. So, I came up
with a plan. Being a travel buff, I decided to adopt a natural theme, so
picked a beach- Lekki Leisure Lake.
I tagged the concept "message from the sea". It can be very difficult
to plan a surprise proposal for an intelligent girl. I had to tell
multiple lies to cover up my tracks all through the entire process of
planning the proposal. There were different times she almost suspected
that I was up to something, but I had to cover up with a story or
another. Also, for a guy, the whole process of picking and buying a
suitable engagement ring and planning the surprise can sometimes become
extremely mentally taxing as it involves finding out the lady's actual
ring size, preferred gold type (white or yellow), choosing a befitting
stone setting, choosing a proposal concept, location, timing etc. - all
coming with their combined financial implication.
I got a bottle,
poured in some snail shells and natural petals of different colours. I
made a scroll containing two photos at the top (the picture we took on
our first date and the one we took on the day we started going out) and a
short proposal poem beneath them. I stopped the top of the bottle with
an artificial rose and tied a red ribbon from the rose down to the
scroll inside the bottle, such that if one pulls the rose, the scroll
inside the bottle automatically comes up along with it. I also placed a
red pull ribbon to the neck of the bottle. I went to Lekki leisure Lake
on the previous day of the proposal to plan with one of their staff. I
gave him the decorated bottle and we picked a nice spot on the beach
together. I made sure we picked a spot in which the breaking waves of
the ocean and its ebb will sweep through so as to give the buried bottle
a 'natural' look after it is been placed, half-buried in the sand. I
took his phone number and we agreed that once I give him a 'missed call'
on the morning of the following day, he should go ahead and peg the
bottle at the exact spot we picked on the beach. I had earlier notified
my girlfriend that we were going to hangout with one of my friends and
his girlfriend at the beach that morning. I told her we were going to
ride jet skis and quad bikes.
It rained
heavily that morning. I was scared the whole plan was gonna get messed
up, but went ahead with the plan. By the time we all arrived at the
beach, the rains had stopped, but the skies were still set in deep blue
tones. The air at the beach was chilly, the lake and ocean waters
reflected the colours of the sky and the low grasses at the lake edge
flaunted their verdant pigment. As we entered through the gate of the
recreation center, I secretly gave 'accomplice' at the beach a call and
quickly cut it while it rang. The four of us (my girlfriend, my friend,
his girlfriend and I) walked to the lake side and I could see the guy at
the far side of the beach walking towards the agreed point on the
beach. After a few minutes, he rang my phone and cut the line. I figured
he was set.
The engagement
ring I bought was sitting gracefully in its red velvet box in my pocket.
I winked at my friend and he suggested that we all walk to the far side
of the beach so take some nice photos. I agreed and the four of us
began to stroll down, each couple holding hands. My friend had his
camera with him, all set for shooting. The distance was a little long,
but the amazing views of the ocean if offered made it worth the walk. As
we approached the peg point, I looked back and winked at my friend. I
quickly spotted the pegged bottle, close to the edge of the breaking
ocean waters. I pointed at it and asked her to go take a look and pick
it so we can see what was inside.
She said "What? No way! You want me to turn to yam abii!", I bursted into laughter and pull her closer to the bottle.
She
was wondering what I was doing. I pulled the bottle from the wet sand
and looked into her eyes, pulled the rose slowly from its mouth and
smiled as I looked at her again. She stood there, shocked and trying to
figure out what I was doing. I smiled again and told her the scroll was
for her. It finally occurred to her what was going on. She covered her
eyes with one palm and stretched the other palm at me and started
saying, "Wait! Wait! Wait!". I became confused. A million thoughts ran
through my head in the split of a second. "Is she giving me a NO or
what?", I thought. I held the bottle for half a second, not knowing what
to do. Then, I braced up, pulled the scroll out of the bottle and
untied it. At this point, she had dropped her palm from her face and her
eyes were red and wet with tears. I gave her the scroll to read and as
she read it, I dropped to a knee, pulled out the ring box from my pocket
and held it open at my eye level. She finished reading the poem, raise
her head and couldn't lift her eyes off the ring I was holding up in the
case. She fell in love with the ring.
I
began, "Thanks for coming on this journey with me all these years. I
have decided to spend the rest of my life with you. Baby, please, will
you marry me?"
"Of course", she said, amidst a short burst of tears.
"Of course what? Tell me yes or no", I said.
She laughed and said "Yessss!".
I
smiled and mistakenly took her right palm. I guess I was carried away
myself. She frowned and pull her right hand away from me and stretched
her left palm to me. I laughed and apologized. Then, I slipped the ring
into the appropriate finger. The raging waves of the ocean broke on the
shores, sweeping over my knee and her feet as she lifted me from the
sand and hugged me while she kept sobbing.
That's the proposal...now see the photos below...
About the Author
Posts
0 comments: