Party on September 8th

October 2012, our junior year of college; Michael walked me home from a party hosted at his fraternity. it was the first time we had met. He asked a friend for my phone number and asked me on our first date 24 hours later. We have been together ever since.

April 7th, 2017. Michael brought me a cup of coffee and set it on my nightstand. He always wakes me up with caffeine so I had thought nothing of it until I noticed the envelope taped to my cup. It was marked "Take this to work with you. Don't open until 4:00 PM." Michael had been out of town for 2 weeks and I had sent him a Google Calendar invite for a date when he returned to Chicago, I assumed the envelope was fulfilling my request. I took the envelope to work with me and opened it at 4:23 PM after a meeting that ran long. I remember the exact moment. I open the envelope and there was another envelope inside that said "Brianna. Seriously. Wait until 4:00PM...". Michael didn't know I was already late, but he wouldn't be surprised. I opened the second envelope to a map with directions to North Avenue Beach in Chicago. I texted Michael I was on the way and secretly headed to my office happy hour. This was the first moment I thought "it" was going to happen...I needed to calm my nerves. When I arrived, I followed the map to the end of a pier overlooking the Chicago skyline. Michael was waiting with a gift box we had used for every anniversary since our first year of dating. Each year we switch off who gives the other a gift and our rule is: all gifts have to fit in "the box". I locked my gazed on the box and headed towards Michael. On our 4th anniversary in December of 2016, it was Michael's turn to give a gift, his card that year noted that the next time I saw the box, he would be asking me to marry him. I slowly approached Michael and opened the box to an engraved pen that said, "I love you always, Brianna Miller," This is the same gesture Michael's father made when he proposed to his mother. I turned around and Michael asked me to marry him. He even filmed the whole engagement and had a microphone on to capture the moment!