I said yes!

Our favorite thing to do is to go hiking and go up North (the northern part of Minnesota). In August, we made plans to go up north and go on a hike on a new trail. Unfortunately, I fell ill and got injured at the beginning of September so our plans were postponed. However, we still wanted to go up north and make the best of it even with my limited mobility. As we were preparing for the trip, I kept asking Joel "What are we going to do? What time are we going to leave the cities?" He is usually responsive and lets me know of new spots he wants to check out. But this time, he kept ignoring and evading my questions. I found it weird but shrugged it off since this time we were going to explore downtown instead of going to a park/hiking trail. The morning that we started our road trip to head up North, I was the one who did most of the talking (as usual) but he seemed distant. I asked him "Are you ok? You are somewhere else." All he said was that he had a headache and was a bit tired. We got to Duluth and went to the aquarium. It was small but we got to see all types of animals and fish. Once we were done checking out the aquarium, Joel suggested we check out the zoo as well. After the zoo, we decided to grab lunch. It was too early to head back to the cities so we agreed to look for a place in the area while we ate. As we were eating, he showed me a picture of a lighthouse that was not far from Duluth. That place was the first place we went to on our first road trip as a couple. It felt right to revisit the place since we have not gone back since. When we got there, it was gloomy and windy, but perfect. Since I could not walk all the way to the lighthouse, we settled to walk on the beach area. Joel had brought his polaroid and was taking a few pictures. I was not that fancy and was taking pictures and videos on my phone. I was ready to head back to the car but Joel insisted we keep walking. I did not think anything of it so I kept walking on the beach. I could see Joel out of the corner of my eye stay back and take more pictures. I kept walking. Then, all of a sudden I hear “Babe!” I turned around thinking that he was going to take a picture. To my surprise, when I turned, he was standing there with a red box on his hand. He proceeded to kneel down and that is when I lost my sh*t. I just remember screaming and laughing out of joy. He then proceeded to ask me with tears in his eyes, “Will you marry me?” I was freaking out and yelling “Are you being for real?!” “Are you kidding me?!” I was jumping and ecstatic. After realizing that he was in fact, being for real, I hugged him and said yes. It was a perfect day.