Engagement

THE PROPOSAL * 11.2.2013 TUSCON, ARIZONA *

Evonne and I have shared many significant relationship moments together, some of which I have captured in pictures.  In these pictures are little crystallized fragments of time that sometimes commemorate a birthday or a holiday while other times hold the candid moments that are as unique as they are fleeting.

But even all the pictures that I have taken with all their special moments put together do not add up to tell our story together.  The vast majority of our story is full of "little" moments, like the morning we squeezed the wrong end of the toothpaste, the afternoon we spent grocery shopping, or the evening we reheat leftovers for dinner.  These moments might be mistaken as unremarkable or mundane, but, in fact, are special in their own way because they are the way we spend most of our time together.

To celebrate both our moments together, both big and small, I decided to propose to Evonne during a "little" moment.  No big displays of affection in front of strangers or coinciding with a family gathering during the holidays; I knew she would disapprove if I made too public a scene.

I used my Polaroid integrated film and compiled a collection of all our photos from when we had first met, before we started dating, until the present.  There is something special about having a physical photograph in your hand -- its analog chemicals capture a mixture that is lively and organic with a hint of nostalgia that can't quite be described in a sterile digital world.

I waited until after she had dressed down to something comfortable -- no high heels, no make-up.  Just 100% Evonne as she was getting ready to relax for the evening.  I brought over an empty photo album with my stack full of photographs and asked if she would help me put together an album.  We went through all the big events we shared together -- our first picture together, the ski trip we organized, our many food-oriented get-togethers with friends, and our trips to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Hawaii -- and all the small moments too -- my bad haircuts, the cheesy poses, and all the silly things we did behind the camera lens.  We laughed and joked and reminisced about all that we experienced together.  That's the special thing with pictures: its all about the good times and the best times.

As we journeyed from the roads of out past, we drew nearer and nearer to the images from our present, until she moved to a picture she had not seen before.  It was a picture of a small object that was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time; she had seem many similar ones before, but not this one.  This one was her ring.  And it was in a picture of the future.  Our future.

With ring in hand, I fell to my knee and proposed to her.  Just Evonne and myself, sharing a little moment together privately that would be the beginning of all the big and little moments we would share together as husband and wife.