Sherwin and Julie in Rochester

Our story begins with a purple tulip. On Thursday, March 30th, Sherwin came over in the evening to go for a walk before heading off to work. When he arrived he handed me a tiny clay pot with a delicate, purple tulip. I had been sick the week prior and was still recovering from my sniffles so I assumed the gift was a "get well token?.but it was far more than that.
On Saturday evening, April 1st, 2006 - Sherwin took me to our favorite coffee shop in downtown Rochester. Java's is nestled in the downtown district and is a place we have frequented after nights at Shows or Symphonies throughout our dating relationship. It was the perfect place for Sherwin's plan - to recreate many facets of our relationship in one evening.

When we arrived Sherwin went up to the counter and ordered peach tea?I had to chuckle at that because of the long standing joke peach tea has turned out to be. Ironically, instead of my usual hot chocolate or latte, I ordered "Kinky Reggae"?.I still don't know why?.
As we were talking, we saw two of our friends walking into the coffee shop. Poon and Danielle (former residents of Sherwin's when he was an RA), came in and told us they were there for a project they were working on for a photo class. Poon needed to take some candid shots for an interactive photo project and they were meeting the model in ten minutes. We chit-chatted for a little while, and then they went off to "meet their model."

As Sherwin and I sat talking the music playing turned from incredibly horrible techno music to a song that I recognized instantly but couldn't place. Finally we realized that it was Jamaican music and one of Sherwin's favorite songs. "Could you be loved" by Bob Marley.

The Jamaican songs kept coming (oblivious to me as to why) - and I remember making comments such as, "Wow, I can't believe they are playing all this Jamaican music! "I've never heard them play Jamaican music here before! "Maybe it's ?Jamaican music night' and in a teasing fashion "hmmm?.they should really try to upgrade their music selection."
Sherwin and I began a fierce game of our favorite card game - spit. Now it's important to note that Sherwin and I are two of the most competitive people on the planet and when we are playing against each other, our love for each other does nothing to shield the other of ruthless taunting and intense trash talking. This game however Sherwin was acting particularly strange. His reflexes were so slow (spit is a game based on speed) and he was making silly mistakes. I took full opportunity to point out that he was losing at every opportune moment. Finally when I had 4 cards left, he just looked at me and said, "You win! - I was shocked because never in all my days had Sherwin ever conceded a game to me (and even when I DO beat him - which is most of the time - he is in serious denial. Ofcourse he had other things to think about.

Then minutes after appearing Poon and Danielle showed up lamenting that their models had not arrived and asked to take pictures of us instead. It was an easy shoot, all we had to do was to keep interacting while Poon took pictures for the next 15 minutes. His camera and crazy smile soon faded into the background.

Sherwin got up to "get more tea and I chatted a bit with Poon and Danielle who had been taking random pictures throughout my "spit-victory. When Sherwin came back we snuggled into a pillow pile and he began telling me a Chinese fable.
Sherwin took a sip of his tea and then said, "Here try some of this tea. I took the cup and looked into it and to my surprise?there was no tea, but rather water?.with a ring at the bottom. From this moment, a myriad of emotions filled me and many thoughts raced through my head. It took me a second to understand what I was looking at, but at the bottom of the cup was a delicate silver band. I was thinking, "Now?!!! "Is this the moment?!!!!"?.and yes, I even thought?. "Could this be an April fool's day trick? (wouldn't that have been awful!!) I lifted the tea tassel and there was a small note that said, "Will you marry me? (heart begins to leap) and as I pulled it out further the ring was attached to the bottom. It was at this point I went into what I believe is medically termed "engagement shock and I remember looking at Sherwin and him saying "you're trembling! - I hugged him and then I overheard our Java audience applauding. (Sherwin had contacted them prior to our arrival to set up the musical aspect of the night and unbeknownst to me, they had been loitering around in the area waiting for him to ask the question.)

The next few moments were a blur to me, but Sherwin looked at me and said, "I cannot afford to give you anything I haven't already given you. - After a few seconds, I realized that he was referring to the ring he had given me. I told him I didn't need any diamonds and that it was him that I wanted to marry. But he kept repeating that sentence, "I cannot afford to give you anything that I haven't already given you. After three or four times I was getting a bit exasperated and I said, "We don't need to talk about this, I don't care about a diamond! - but then he made an allusion to the Chinese fable and something in my mind clicked: He had put the diamond ring in the clay flower pot he had given me 2 days prior! It had been in my apartment all along! "Let's go home! I said. : ) Ironically in my attempt to retreave the ring, the beautiful little tulip died?and then the replacement tulip that Sherwin gave me looks like someone has electrocuted it?.oh well?.some things will never change.
One amazing blessing is the photos that Poon and Danielle were able to capture of our story. They are priceless and something that I will treasure forever! I am very thankful that I can share our story and that in some ways you could "be there as well. I love being in love and my two new favorite phrases that I have added to my vocabulary are "I love you and "our marriage."