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| (okay. so this may be a little cheesy, but i can't think of a better
way to tell our engagement story to those of you far away people who have been asking.
this way it will have pictures, etc. etc.)
well, the entire day was an amazing and wondrous surprise to me. the
whole week i had been wanting to spend some time alone with derek, but
there was so much to do, so many things to see, people to meet, etc,
that we just didn't have very much time to ourselves. i kept looking
forward to our anniversary (May 9th) for that simple reason: time alone
with derek. i really didn't expect to be doing a whole lot (every time
i asked derek if he had anything planned he looked at me with this
cryptic expression and said, "i'm sure we'll figure something out."). i
think i figured that we would walk around the city, go to parks and
hang out, and go out to eat.
that's actually how the day started in barcelona. we saw a monument (i
can't remember the name of it) and went out to breakfast. after
breakfast we began to walk around. i remember thinking, "it seems like
there is definitely a direction in derek's mind," but he didn't say anything about it so i just kept chatting
while we walked along - until we arrived at the bus station. i said, "Oh, you DO know
where we are going!" and derek looked at me again, cryptic face and
smiling eyes, and told me that i'd see. when he bought the tickets i
strained to hear our destination, but, as luck would have it, there was
a loud noise just when they said it and i missed it. on the bus he told me that we were
going to Gerona, Spain (thats a beautiful little town we had visited
earlier that week). i had really loved the town and was very
excited to be going back. i thought, "how wonderful, he really did plan
something! i love him so much!"
when we arrived in Gerona, however, we did not stay. we went to the
airport and derek said, "i didn't say that we'd stay in Gerona," with a
mischievous grin. i think that this was one of my most surprised
moments. as we stood in line to check in, derek pointed out that we
would be flying to Venice, Italy. Venice! i think i nearly screamed
with delight, i could hardly believe it. how romantic! and i had
always, ever since i was a little girl, wanted to go to venice "where
the streets are made of water". and derek was taking me there for our
anniversary, when i hadn't even thought he had had anything planned at
all!
here is derek in Venice, shortly after we first arrived. it was
slightly rainy there, which derek was irritated about (i didn't know
the full reason why at this point). but i was almost glad that it was.
we walked around the quiet, still streets; there was hardly a soul out.
the lights shone onto the water, and the puddles on the streets
glimmered right along with the canals. it was beautiful.
here is a picture of the gondolas - i actually took it the next day, when it was sunnier, but we saw plenty of them that night.
derek and i in Venice. its too dark to see the background very well, but we were standing in a beautiful courtyard.
that night we walked around, took pictures, and just enjoyed the city.
everything there was magical. i loved it. later we went out to dinner
at this romantic little Italian restaurant. we met a friendly and
charming british couple who happened to be sitting at the table beside
us. they were there celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. but
soon after we finished eating, derek said that we should probably start
to walk back toward the bus station. it was 11:30ish and he told me
that we had to catch a bus at 1:00. while we were walking i saw a girl
who looked just like whitney, my sister - "whitney!" i said, and lunged
towards her. the girl zoomed past and i, having only caught just a
glimpse of her, felt so sure that it was her that i was ready to chase
her down. derek gently obstructed my path and my view with the enormous
umbrella he was holding. "what would whitney be doing in Venice?" he
asked me. "that's right," i thought to myself, "that couldn't have been
whitney - whitney is in barcelona!" "Besides," derek continued,
"whitney looks a little italian, hey?" oh my goodness, i was sooo
relieved that derek had prevented me from making a total idiot of
myself and yelling after some italian lady in english. that
would have really embarrassing! about then, derek pointed out that he
had noticed these little chalk arrows drawn on the sidewalk. he said that
he had been noticing them for a little while and wondered where they
led to. (there is one below that you can hardly see - i took a picture
of it the next day. its right by the corner of the building, you can
juusst make it out.)
so then we started following the trail of chalk arrows, one after
another, until they lead us into a dark courtyard. as derek scanned the
ground for more arrows, i peered into the yonder alley where i saw a
bobbing tim/cheshire cat-like face appear peeking around the corner. i
thought to myself, "am i going crazy? first i think i see whitney, now
tim - i am seeing people everywhere. i'd better not mention this to
derek, he'll think i've been taking crazy pills." but lo and behold,
the chalk arrows lead us into that exact yonder ally. as we walked
through the ally i looked down and saw our (derek and my) journal
sitting on top of a cardboard box next to a little sack of trash.
curious. we entered the courtyard and - TIM! i really had seen tim
poking his head around the corner. i was so excited about this i
pointed and laughed and exclaimed. but when the excitement of it wore
away, there tim still was, standing somewhat awkwardly with a pile of
stuff at his feet in a dark courtyard in venice, italy. i couldn't
fathom WHY exactly he was there. and then WHITNEY APPEARED (i didn't
know this, but she had been checking to make sure that the chalk arrows
hadn't been washed away by the rain). so it
wasn't a strange italian lady! too bewildered to puzzle this out, i let
derek lead me back into the little ally where we sat right on that
little cardboard box. tim took our journal and the sack of trash, and
whitney began to light tiny candles that were sitting on the protruding
bricks in the wall. now, it seems like we watched her do this for a
really long time. i asked derek if HE knew that whitney and tim were
going to be there, and he gave me an equally bewildered "huh-uh". after
a little while a darkened figure (i am guessing either whitney or tim.
if those are their real names.) brought out the journal and a mandolin.
derek played me a beautiful song that he had written - i was so swept
away and surprised by this time that i was too astonished to cry (that
came later) - he opened the journal, read from it to me, and as he
turned the page i could see a ring resting in a perfect little square
cut in the remaining pages. and he asked me to be his wife.
i said yes a thousand times with all my heart.
this is the sneaky engagement coalition.
the newly engaged couple
me adoring derek 
in venice the next day
whitney and tim
all four of us in venice. (and a man we don't know. but i'm sure he's nice and i'm glad to have him in the picture.)
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