In September of the year 2000 Jennifer and I vacationed to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  It was a surprise vacation for Jennifer.  All she knew before we left was that we were going somewhere warm and near the water.  To Jennifer's surprise we arrived in Buxton, a small town about 1 mile North of the famous Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  I had rented a house in Buxton for us to stay in.  The house looked straight out at the lighthouse.  On September 29th, my birthday, I took Jennifer to the lighthouse around 2 o'clock. We climbed the lighthouse, all 268 steps to the top. Once atop of the light the rest of the guests slowly left and Jennifer and I were alone on top.  After about 15 minutes atop of the lighthouse, I got down on one knee and asked Jennifer to marry me. Of course she said yes, and the volunteers took our picture atop the lighthouse.  Jennifer did not weep one tear, that is till we reached the bottom of the lighthouse where more volunteers congratulated us.  Tears started to flow as Jennifer admitted that she had to hold back the tears so she did not fall down the steps, as she had on the very first step ascending to the top.  The rest is a love story for the books.