On a frigid morning in early March 2012, T.J. and Wendy hiked to the edge of Forest Lake, Wendy's favorite spot on the entire Forest Lake property.  With frozen mist sparkling in the light of the rising sun, we sat side-by-side looking out across the lake.  In the peace of the morning calm T.J. asked Wendy to marry him.  And she said yes!

We first met in the summer of 2007 through our mutual friend Sara who was Wendy's nursing-school classmate and T.J.'s next-door neighbor.  Our paths crossed intermittently until early 2010 when Sara mistakenly double-booked herself to have dinner with both Wendy and T.J.  Sara, Nate, Eric, Melicia, Wendy and T.J. had dinner together in Mt. Airy.  Later that evening, Melicia said to her husband Eric, "T.J. should date someone like Wendy."  And a few weeks later we were doing just that.

On one of our first dates, during the week after Easter in 2010, we shared leftovers.  Dessert was yummy cupcakes decorated with Easter-themed, plastic rings—a purple Easter bunny, an orange daisy, a green Easter egg.  T.J. held onto those rings and has given them to Wendy whenever she has embarked on some journey—a trip to India, a cross-country road trip to visit friends or a month-long stay in Denver.  On the morning of our engagement, T.J. used one of them when he asked Wendy to marry him.

Today Wendy wears the same engagement ring that her grandmother once wore.  We didn't have this ring on the morning of our engagement, but a few weeks later we picked it up from the jeweler and T.J. took advantage of a second opportunity to ask for Wendy's hand in marriage.  After leaving the jeweler we picked-up Wendy's mom at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station and drove to the top of the Art Museum steps.  On a sunny day in the middle of a crowd and without any forethought, T.J. bent on one knee to ask Wendy to marry him.  A hush fell over the crowd and they erupted in applause when Wendy said yes.  We even drew the attention of a videographer who was filming a wedding nearby.  He pointed his camera in our direction, captured the crucial moment and kindly shared the video with us.

As we walked away from the Art Museum steps we talked about how a couple's engagement story should reflect their personalities and their relationship.  During the first proposal, the two of us sat alone and side-by-side, outdoors and far from other people.  The moment was peaceful, reflective and meaningful.  Based on Wendy's level of embarassment evident in the video, T.J. can say to her after the second proposal, "Gotcha!"