Wedding Journal

Rob and I flew out to Chicago for the weekend of August 19-22 to visit friends and explore the city at a leisurely pace. That Saturday, we visited the beautiful Baha'i Temple north of Chicago and had dinner in Evanston. After dinner, we took the El back to town, got off at the Bryn Mawr stop and walked a few blocks east until we ran into Lake Michigan and the northernmost part of Chicago's Lincoln Park.

We walked out onto Kathy Osterman Beach, where we found a fishing pier that extended out into the lake (aerial photo). Sunset was fast approaching, and we decided that the pier would be the perfect place to take in the scene, with a great view of the beach, downtown and the lake itself. Near the end of the pier was a lookout tower (closed to the public), and we walked around the tower and sat down. At very the end of the pier, maybe 50 feet away, a woman stretched with practiced yoga motions.

The sunset that evening was spectacular. Between the recent rains and the air show going on that weekend, the clouds were incredibly varied, ranging from wispy contrails to plump "cotton balls." And as the sunset dropped further into the horizon, the colors that played across the clouds kept changing and deepening even as the clouds slowly drifted across the sky.

I think Rob wanted to pop the question there, on the pier, but, 45 minutes later and the sunset almost over, Yoga Lady was still doing her thing. And when a boisterous foursome came out to our end of the pier and sat down next to us, we decided it was time to leave.

We walked back down the pier to the beach, and over to a grassy, tree-covered spot labelled Contemplation Point on our map. Sitting on a concrete bench, we chatted and watched the rest of the sun sink out of view.

Then, under the pretense of looking for a cellphone, Rob reached into his backpack and pulled out a square box. "I'm going to do this right," he said, a tinge of nervousness in his voice.

He walked around the bench and knelt down on his left knee. As he opened the box to reveal the ring, he asked, "Will you marry me?"

A huge grin on my face, I said yes.