The Proposal

It happened on the Saturday night of July 26, in the garden of an exquisite French Restaurant.
I knelt in front of her as she sat on the wooden bench and said,

"Tracy Ann Cannon, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

This was after we had left Davis, driven to the Davis University airport from where a friend of mine flew us down over the Napa Valley (California's Barossa) to the San Francisco Bay Area where we turned over the bay and flew back to land at the Napa airport.

A big white Cadillac limousine met us there and shuffled us on to the restaurant in Yountville, about 15 minutes up the valley. The restaurant is one of the finest in the country - the chef (Thomas Keller) being awarded the honour of Best Chef by the Oscars of "cheffing". Then we began our wonderful meal - 5 incredibly presented courses with unbelievable service.

Between the 2nd and 3rd courses, I took Tracy for a walk in the garden looking at the roses and other flowers. Then while she went to the restroom, I gave the camera to a waiter and asked him to take a couple of photos when I proposed. He said: "I guess the cue will be pretty obvious."

Tracy came back and I got her to sit on the bench in the garden. I sat next to her and looked long into her eyes while I fished out the ring. Then I got down on one knee and holding the ring in its box toward her, asked her to be my wife. She melted and pulling the ring out, saying yes, hugging me and slipping the ring on her finger was all one swift movement - poetry in motion.