Antonia did a pretty good job telling the story of how we first met and how we went on our first date. To just pick up the story from there, we went to dinner for our first date and I honestly had no idea what to expect. The two of us frankly didn't know all that much about one another, but there was still just something about her that made me want to know more. Our conversation made me realize that she was truly special in so many ways, although I didn't think that I myself made that great of an impression. I kept thinking she probably wasn't going to give me a second date.

But, we ended up going on a second date. And a third date. And I felt myself slowly beginning to picture spending the rest of my life with Antonia over the next few months. There was a point early on in the relationship where we discussed our futures, with me inevitably moving away for the Navy and her going to graduate school somewhere outside of St. Louis. It was that moment, where I felt that I couldn't lose her, that I knew I wanted to marry her. I knew it would be difficult to be physically separated for some time, but I also knew we could make it work. 

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So we did long distance for a while. We found a way to make it work. And eventually, a year later, after some big life decisions for the both of us, Antonia moved back to St. Louis to pursue her real passion in an economics program at SLU. I had been willing to push marriage back for a number of years while we both lived in different cities, but as soon as she told me she was moving back, I began to look for a ring. 

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Several months after she had moved back, I began to plan the proposal, and came up with a Friday at the end of a busy week for the both of us. I told her to keep the day free without giving away any details about what we would be doing.  I picked her up after work that afternoon and took her to Forest Park, where we rented a canoe and paddled around the narrow canals to the water basin. Antonia probably suspected something was up at this point because I was somewhat dubious about why we were dressed up and why I had brought a bag with me. Later, we went to the World's Fair Pavilion and found a nice spot to sit while the sun was setting. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. We sat and ate a dinner that I packed, and then I told her that I had something special to give her. I remember Antonia's face lighting up as if she knew what was coming. When I reached into the bag and pulled out a binder, the look of confusion was pure gold. 

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She opened the binder to find every single letter that we had ever written each other, going all the way back to the beginning of our relationship when I'd written a journal entry about her, neatly compiled in chronological order. We laughed, we cried, we recollected on all of the incredible moments we had been able to share over the course of two and a half amazing years together. Finally, we got to the final page with a new letter, and as she finished reading the part where I talked about spending the rest of my life with her, I got down on one knee while the sun sank over the horizon. 

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