One week in mid-April, 1996, Paul was bugging Beth all week to come visiting that weekend. Beth, who had spent many weekends at Paul's recently, was tired and not sure she wanted to leave home that weekend. But Paul persisted, Beth relented, and arrived on Saturday. We didn't go anywhere on Saturday night, preferring a quiet evening at home. Then on Sunday, Beth asked Paul what he wanted to do for dinner that night. He perked up and suggested going to a very nice Inn in a nearby town for an elegant dinner. Well, we got there, and discovered they were closed on Sunday. As a matter of fact, just about the whole town was closed on Sunday. We drove and drove around this little town until we were so desperately hungry we went into the first open restaurant we could find - a Chinese place (they're always open, right?). While the food wasn't exactly stellar, we can say that it was economical - their special was a full dinner for $4.95. We each had 2 drinks and quite literally the liquor was as costly as the food. Paul quite rightly figured this wasn't the right place to pop the question.
After dinner, we decided to curl up on the sofa and watch a movie - after a little prodding, Beth agreed to endure the Star Trek movie which was just starting, and we all cuddled up on the sofa - Beth, Paul, and of course, Jenny (the incredible 80-pound lapdog). Jenny was, as usual, up on the sofa eagerly looking to be petted (which involved sitting on Paul's lap so that she could get closer to Beth to be petted by someone with fingernails). So, in the middle of an otherwise forgettable scene, Paul turned to Beth and said, "So, will you marry us?". Beth, somewhat incredulous, kissed Paul and said, "That's how you ask me?", and then went back to watching the movie. After a few silent moments, Paul still hadn't gotten the type of response he was looking for, so he inquired, "Well, what do you think?". Beth replied, "So, I guess Jenny could be the flower girl. I think that would be a fine idea." And thus, the engagement began.
Paul still insists that Beth missed the best straight line ever fed a human being. According to him, she should have said, "Okay, I now pronounce you Man and Dog."
Oh, yeah - for those inquiring minds, Beth didn't get the ring until a month later - the date we got engaged was April 14, and the IRS doesn't want to hear about Love Stories.
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