We’re getting married!

Picture It. It's an unseasonably warm autumn day, November 7th to be exact, and I'm at work counting down the minutes until 1pm because Alex is taking me downtown to take Pinterest worthy couples photos. As we drive downtown Alex is taking work calls while we listen to our usual rotation of decade old pop punk/emo. This day is particularly exciting because just hours ago the Presidential winner had been announced and the city was louder than I've ever seen it before. As we parked, Alex took another work phone call and I got out of the car and was in awe of the amount of people who were out. It's November 2020 so large groups of excited people was something I hadn't seen in a while. The sunshine and sounds of honking, music, and laughter made it feel like the first day of summer vacation. I noticed Alex seemed a bit nervous as we walked towards Millenium Park but chalked up to his work. He was walking quickly enough that I asked him to slow down "We don't have an appointment...". He slowed down and took my hand to lead me through the groups of people sitting on blankets under the Pritzker Pavilion. As we walked I wondered how far we were going to go and what exactly was his criteria for picking a spot to chill considering we had passed up many open spots. Before I could finish the thought he abruptly stopped. He spun around so quickly I thought something was wrong and he dropped down to one knee. Confused is an understatement for the racing thoughts that were going through my head. For a split second I thought he was punking me or that I was daydreaming until he pulled the ring out of his pocket. "Will you marry me?" My ears heard him but my brain wasn't processing. The car honks were gone. The people all around us chatting and watching weren't there anymore. It was just Alex and I. I stared at him finally realizing that this was real and why we were here. He had asked me to marry him and I was screaming "YES" in my head but had yet to answer. After what seemed like an eternity (but was realistically 2 seconds) I said "Are you serious? Yes!" And sealed it with a kiss. The world came back into view and the crowd of strangers in the park started cheering and clapping. I hugged Alex and wondered how I got so lucky to be with him forever.