Our story starts like many others, we met in a haunted house. Bonnie, dressed as a circus ringleader, walked into the haunted house feeling fearless while clinging to her friend dressed as a teddy bear. It wasn’t the first creepy place she’d been, and it certainly didn’t seem like the scariest. As she turned a corner she was distracted by an eerie moving doll, suddenly a horrendous laughing clown jumped out and scared her with his chainsaw and menacing laughter. She screamed and ran off with the teddy bear through the rest of the haunted house. That was their first meeting. Gifford dressed as a killer clown, embracing his unique authentic self. After the haunted house, they had bumped into each other a few times at church or group activities. It was a few months later when Gifford had the compelling feeling that there was someone worthy of his attention. He decided his personal policy of “look but don’t date” within the tight social circle needed to be shelved this time. And he went for it… cautiously. Their first date was at Mijanas, a moody Mediterranean restaurant featuring belly dancers; they ordered pizza. After dinner, Gifford showed Bonnie his advanced skills in Latin dancing (which would eventually follow up with many nights of practice for Bonnie.) Their night ended awkwardly due to allergies and neither of them knew what to expect going forward, but overall the date went really well. A couple weeks later, Gifford broke his finger in a volleyball game; he would later need surgery on it. Bonnie was there to support him through his pain, physical therapy, and new challenges. There was some fun in it for her as she could tease him, and he only had one hand to defend himself. Now that Gifford couldn’t go dancing as often as he had previously, he and Bonnie spent their time getting to know each other, going to the gym, exploring new hiking trails, and sharing their favorite weird shows and movies with each other. Every weekend was filled with plans, and time flew by fast. Halloween just so happens to be both of their favorite holiday, and for Gifford Halloween is 31 days long. He had to know if Bonnie would be able to last through his 31 days of crazy as he decorated and spooked daily. She passed! And scared him with around the corner “boo’s” more often than he did to her. The holidays went well, and they both got along with each other’s families. It was time for Gifford to make one last crazy move. The Proposal! He wanted it to be special. She wanted it to be a surprise. He planned an Egyptian mummy archaeological themed date. They started the date visiting another Mediterranean restaurant, Haji baba. It was a hole in the wall joint combined with a small grocery of imported goods from the Middle East. They took home a variety of things to try, gyro, spanakopita, shish kabab, tabouli salad, sanbusek, and baklava. Bonnie’s influence to try new things had certainly rubbed off since their first Mediterranean experience together. During dinner they watched ‘The Mummy’ (the good one, with Brendan Frazier). When the movie finished Gifford then brought out a large cauldron of sand and told Bonnie she was going to dig. Hidden in the sand was an assortment of rocks, and Bonnie was excited to find a few that she had always wanted. At the bottom of the sand was a small golden sarcophagus with Egyptian hieroglyphics on it. Gifford had taken the liberty to translate saying it said, “beware all those who open this chest”. She should have known better, but she opened it anyway. Inside was a purple geode shaped box containing the ring that would take Bonnie’s breath away. They both froze in the moment and time slowed down, what seemed like minutes was simply seconds. He forgot what he was going to say, and she forgot how to respond. He finally spoke "Bonnie Walton, will you marry me?" With some quick words to herself and a few tears of joy, she managed to nod her head and say "yes".