A lawyer friend of mine once gave me some advice; never ask a question if you don’t know the answer.  So the issue in proposing to my lovely fiancé was how to surprise her.  The answer is misdirection.  I had met discreetly with Rick for months to get the perfect ring.  Although she knew I was working on it, she did not know it was already in my possession.   The opportunity came with a spontaneous trip, suggested by her, to see Hamilton in Chicago.  A romantic dinner with theatre tickets was the perfect scenario for proposing.

We ordered champagne to toast to our night and I asked the waiter to take a picture of us.  As I moved around the table I naturally had to kneel to be at her level.  While she was looking at the camera, I reached in my pocket and said, “While I’m down here, Will You Marry Me?  The look of surprise and love will be one I remember for the rest of my life.