The Proposal

August 31st, 2024

It was our second day of our Cape Cod Labor Day trip with two of our dear friends, Elliot and Rayven. Our cozy little rental was in a serene location away from the tourist traffic and only steps away from a private beach. After a quiet day of relaxing on the beach and searching for seashells in the sun, we decided to grab an early dinner from a lovely restaurant in New Bedford called The Black Whale. As we all got ready for the reservation, it was mentioned that we should come back to our rental before sunset as Elliot and Rayven had unfortunately missed the picturesque moment the evening before due to their later arrival. With this in mind, Brett and myself were hoping to honor their wish as we were lucky enough to witness the previous night's sunset while eating a most exquisite Five Guys dinner on the back deck.

As we arrived to The Black Whale, we found that it was an oceanside restaurant with a lovely boat-side atmosphere. The drinks, sushi, entrees, and dessert along with excellent company and ambience created one of the best dinner experiences I've had to date. On the drive back to our rental, I was half convinced to change into pajamas due to the abundant amount of food consumed but was convinced otherwise by Rayven and Brett. All I knew was that Elliot and Rayven really wanted to watch the soon approaching sunset.

Once we had returned, we poured a couple drinks and headed to the back deck to unwind and soak in the rays. Elliot ended up running back inside, and in the meantime Brett, Rayven, and myself decided to play some bocce in the yard near the beach. After a few minutes of poorly aimed bocce throws on my part, Elliot had joined us on the yard (camera in tow) and it was thus decided to watch the sunset on the beach. With such a picture-perfect opportunity within our grasp Elliot snapped some good shots of Rayven with the sun about to set. This led to Rayven asking Brett and myself if we would like to have our picture taken, to which of course we said yes.

Getting ready to walk over to the location that Rayven had previously been standing I turned around to find Brett not standing, but kneeling down, with a ring in his hand. With the sunset illuminating the silhouette of Brett and reflecting off the golden ring, I was left standing in complete shock and awe. After what felt like minutes of brain processing I finally put the peaces together that Brett was proposing. I wish I could say that I remembered what he had said in that exact moment, but there was a minute where I mentally blacked out due to an overwhelming abundance of joy. All I could do was smile ear-to-ear and say yes.

With that, our journey towards forever had begun. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect proposal, or more supportive friends helping to make it all happen. Needless to say, it will be difficult topping off this mini-vacation.