The story of our engagement

My goal was to give Elysha a proposal that she would never forget. 

First I needed to purchase a ring, which meant that I needed to know the type of ring that Elysha wanted, the cut of the diamond, and her ring size, all without her finding out what I was planning. I enlisted the support of Mrs. Raynis, a friend of both me and Elysha and the female version of myself, and we went to work.

Once Mrs. Raynis had skillfully obtained the required information, I began shopping; eventually purchasing the ring from Adiamor, a website that sells diamond rings at a fraction of the cost that you would pay at a retail outlet. One afternoon at work, while Elysha was trapped in a meeting, I gathered three of her friends around the computer to decide upon a band and make the purchase. I had also enlisted the help of Mrs. Snow, who was also trapped in the meeting, to alert us if the meeting broke up early.

After about an hour of comparing diamonds and bands, we made a decision and I purchased the ring, arranging for it to be sent to yet another friends’ house (someone home on maternity leave, since the package would require a signature), where I would pick it up later.

Next came the proposal plans.

Elysha’s favorite room in the world is Grand Central Station, so I had decided to ask her to marry me there. I also wanted the proposal to be a complete surprise, so I picked December 28th, right in between Christmas and New Years and about 2 weeks before her birthday. I figured that if Elysha was suspecting a proposal, she might expect it to happen on New Year’s Eve or her birthday, so placing it around but not on these days seemed like a good idea.

Elysha had also told me months prior that no one had ever thrown her a surprise party, and she had asked me to throw one for her someday. I had told her at the time that I’d plan a surprise party for her next birthday and would still manage to surprise her despite the forewarning.

She foolishly doubted me.

My plan was simple. After she agreed to marry me, I’d tell Elysha that the proposal counted as her surprise party. Of course, 2 weeks after the proposal, a surprise birthday party was already being planned at the home of friends Mr. and Mrs. Wolgemuth, so in the midst of the proposal planning, I was also planning her birthday party as well.

It was a busy time for me.

Next I needed a reason to be in New York that day, so I enlisted the support of Emily, Elysha’s sister, who helped out tremendously. Two weeks before the proposal, Emily called and asked us to come into the city that day. She also arranged for a luncheon at Ruby Foos following the engagement.

My plan was to propose to Elysha on the top steps of the Terminal, overlooking the clock and the throng of holiday shoppers and tourists that were sure to be jamming the place that day. In that mass of people would also be our friends and family, remaining hidden in order to watch the proposal and then surprise Elysha immediately thereafter.

This required a lot of coordination. Mrs. Raynis and Emily were instrumental in this task. First I had to get word to everyone who I wanted to invite, making sure that they maintained secrecy from anyone not invited until after the proposal. We had to arrange for these people (22 in all) to be on a train that New Haven before the train that Elysha and I would be on, and we also had to ensure that they would be out of the New Haven terminal before Elysha and I arrived. We also had people living in New York coming in for the proposal, as well as one family on their way back from Washington, D.C. Coordinating the timing and placement of these people in the terminal was quite a challenge.

All was in place when Elysha and I left the house that morning, with the diamond stuffed into my coat pocket. Of course, nothing ever goes perfectly. About 15 minutes from the station, Mrs. Raynis called (I pretended that she was my mother), informing me that Mr. Michaud and his future wife were running late and might still be in the New Haven terminal when Elysha and I arrived. I took a wrong turn off the exit on purpose to add time to our car ride and was berated by Elysha for doing so.

Upon arriving in the New Haven terminal, I discovered that MetroNorth had added another train to their schedule, an express that would put us into New York just minutes behind the train that our friends were riding. Elysha saw the earlier train on the schedule and told me that we should take it. This was not good. I knew that Mrs. Raynis and Emily would need time to position everyone, and just a few minutes might not be enough. Thinking fast, I explained to Elysha that Emily was expecting us on the later train, and since we had time to kill, we could get some breakfast and relax for once, since we’re usually sprinting to make every train we’ve ever taken. She agreed, and the potential disaster was averted.

Trouble raised its ugly head again about halfway to New York, when a train in front of us broke down, forcing our train back to Bridgeport in order to switch tracks. In all our trip was extended by 45 minutes, which was fine for me but began to drive Elysha batty. The last thing I wanted prior to my proposal was an angry and frustrated potential-fiancée staring me in the face. Thankfully a New York magazine crossword kept her busy enough to remain sane, or else things might have been ugly. As she attempted to decipher the clues to the crossword, I went to the bathroom in order to call Mrs. Raynis and warn her of the delay.

My last bit of trouble occurred upon arriving at the station. Because we had been switched to an alternate track, our train arrived somewhere in the bowels of Grand Central, on a track that Elysha and I had never seen before. Our friends and family had been positioned with the expectation that we would be arriving at a specific track number, and now I had no idea where we might emerge into the station. And because we were further underground than usual, I had no cell phone service with which to warn Mrs. Raynis. All she knew was that Elysha was wearing an orange coat.

Thankfully that turned out to be enough.

As we emerged into the station, I grabbed Elysha’s hand and pulled her toward the stairs, aware that our friends could be anywhere at this point. I told her that I wanted to show her something and she rolled her eyes and followed. Someone in our group of friends spotted the orange coat climbing the stairs and everyone was watching as we reached the top. At the top of the stairs, amongst a throng of people, I dropped to one knee. The dialogue that took place was as follows:

Me: I chose this place because I know it’s your favorite room in the world.

Elysha: Yeah…

Me: And I wanted a place that would always be here, so that someday we could show our kids, so…could you hold my book? (I had a book in my hand and wasn’t smooth enough to drop it to the floor. Elysha took the book and I removed the ring box from my pocket. Just then a policewoman stepped beside us.)

Policewoman: Please keep moving. You can’t block the stairway. (A second later she saw the ring box and smiled.) Oh… (stepping back)

Me: (Dropping to one knee)

Elysha: (Starting to cry)

Me: (On one knee) Elysha Green, I love you with all my heart and want to spend the rest of my life with you. (Opens the ring box) Will you marry me?

Elysha: (Starts crying and reaches out to hug me, NEVER ANSWERING THE QUESTION!)

Friends: (Screaming in the distance, immediately surrounded by National Guard Soldiers)

Me: That’s all of our friends screaming honey…

Elysha: (Continuing to cry)

Friends: After assuring the soldiers that they weren’t in trouble or preparing to commit an act of terrorism, they raced up the stairs, with Dr. Karafelis in the lead shouting and pumping his fists.

Elysha: Oh my God. Where did you all come from?

The rest was great. After the proposal, we all enjoyed lunch at Ruby Foos and then made our way down to Rockefeller Center to check out the tree. Snow was lightly falling, the streets were abuzz with holiday shoppers, and things worked out beautifully.

Elysha, however, has yet to answer my question.