THE BEGINNING - BY HER
I was the new girl, starting a new job and new life in California. Just having moved to the Bay Area from Miami a couple of weeks before to start a new position at MBH Architects in Alameda, I was introduced by a friend and college to another coworker, René. He was nice, friendly, and had many recommendations for me as a recent transplant. Within just a couple of weeks I would turn to him for recommendations and referred to him as my personal Yelp! Although we worked for different studios (divisions) in our company, he would always invite me to participate in social gatherings with his team and other colleagues, as well as the occasional lunchtime run to a Mexican restaurant.
Just having worked at the company for 1 month, it was during this time that my mom came to visit me from Iran. I was invited by René to join him and some of his friends and coworkers for a Friday happy hour. While there I mentioned I had to leave soon as my mom had just arrived and I wanted to spend time with her. René immediately said “have her join us and we’ll give her a tour!”. Noting that my mom did enjoy social gatherings, he and our coworker Ellen insisted that I invite her out. I agreed with the condition that I go home to change and prep my mom for her first night out in the Bay. René dropped me and Ellen off at our respective homes and left to grab something to eat. Less than an hour later he returned to pick us up. As we came out to greet him he produced from his car a beautiful bouquet of yellow tulips for my mom and welcomed her in Farsi to the Bay Area! I was shocked and amazed and my mom was so happy at the gift! He then drove us to pick up Ellen and continued across the bridge into San Francisco where he took us to a couple of beautiful bars in Downtown San Francisco, including one with spectacular views of the city. It was a wonderfully fun evening, spontaneous, and all the more special with my mom at my side. The night would end just as it started, with René dropping us off in Oakland.
It would actually be several more weeks before “sparks would fly” on another night of social gathering, but the evening that René invited my mom and I to “a night out in San Francisco” was the start of something special; a special that has continued to grow and blossom to a relationship and home we share today.
THE PROPOSAL - BY HIM
Although I had an idea of where and how I wanted to propose for some time, the actual date, planning, and execution did not happen until 1 week before.
I settled on a plan of proposing on a small pier at Lake Merritt in Downtown Oakland. Although not at all pretty, this pier held special significance for us, as it was one of the first places we shared a kiss and would thereafter continue to share a kiss whenever we would take walks or jog around the lake. I reached out to a select group of friends to assist me in the set-up and went about the next few days gathering all the items I would need to stage the proposal scene, storing them in my overflowing car to ensure Tannaz would not see them and become suspicious.
Finally the day arrived. It was a Wednesday, and I left work early in San Francisco to head back to Oakland, shop for flowers, and meet with my friends at the lakeside. For the next 2 hours we proceeded to clean, set-up, and decorate the pier. Fernando and Arnoldo helped me layout out the floor runner, lanterns, tables, and candles, while Niki made multiple flower arrangements and laid them out. I had also scheduled a gondola to sail up from the nearby Lake Chalet Restaurant and pick us up from the pier and take us for a short ride around the lake before docking at the restaurant. All the while, pedestrians and strangers kept approaching us and asking what this was for and whether they could contract my friends' services! Finally, the finishing touch was a table set up with music, champagne on ice, and two glasses.
With the evening approaching and the sun setting I changed outfits and took a Lyft to a nearby Bart station where I had previously told Tannaz to pick me up, with the pretext that I had a rough day at work and needed to take a walk around the lake to relax. Always being the difficult person to surprise, Tannaz suggested we do something else or to delay our walk a bit. I insisted to go to the lake and she obliged, although I had to keep secretly contacting my friends and the gondola about the delay.
We finally arrived at the lake and parked, but Tannaz wanted to finish hearing a speech President Obama was giving on the radio. I waited a few minutes and then asked her to continue with me on that walk that I needed and assured her we could catch his speech later online somewhere. We set off on our walk, walking for about 10 minutes along the lake shore. As we approached the pier I tried to distract her and keep her focus across the lake, as I was concerned that she may see our friends or grow suspicious of the small crowed of people that had gathered near the pier. She noticed there was something on the pier from a distance and as we drew closer she was amazed to see the set-up and wondered out-loud what event was going to take place and who it was for. I remarked that it looked like a proposal, as we admired it from the edge of the pier. After a few moments of her taking pictures of the pier I gently pushed her onto it and said "let's get a closer look at the flowers and decoration!". She resisted as she was scared that we were intruding onto someone else's special site!
I nudged her along and we continued walking up the pier, all the while pointing out that the lanterns, flowers, string of lights and music. We approached the end and she recognized a pair of decorative pedestal tables I had purchased recently "for our outdoor deck". That is when it dawned on her and I began my speech. I rambled; I forgot what I said, but I told her how she had changed my life forever and hoped she would continue to do so as I dropped to one knee and pulled out the ring. She cried, I kissed her hand, placed the ring on her finger, and gave her a hug as we heard clapping from those that had stopped to witness the proposal. Tannaz exclaimed how she wished someone had taken pictures of it all when our friends popped out from the crowed with camera's in hand! We hugged, laughed and took a few more pictures as the gondola approached from a distance. The gondolier docked at the lake for a few moments, enough for Tannaz and myself to board with champagne in hand while Niki joined us to take pictures.
We sailed along the lake, popping the champagne and toasting to a wonderful evening as the gondolier serenaded us with classic romantic songs. We held each other and watched the night's darkness descend upon us, with the lights along the lake shore glimmering and twinkling off the water’s surface. We finally arrived and docked at the restaurant, where I had asked our friends to join us for dinner and celebrate a successful and memorable evening.