2.22.25

On Friday, March 29 2024, we were enjoying the final day of our cruise aboard the Disney Wonder. Tami yawned and said "Babe, I'm exhausted. I'm going to take a short nap." "Sounds good," I replied. "Take all the time you need. Rest up." Little did she know - this was exactly the opportunity I was hoping for. On the cruise ship, we had no service and limited WiFi. The only way of contacting others aboard the ship was to go through the ship's app and add other passengers by their cruise ID. Unfortunately, all of our friends had given their IDs to Tami, and once given, the IDs never showed up again- meaning that the only way I could talk to everyone was through Tami's phone. The instant Tami shut her eyes, I hijacked her phone and rallied the troops. "Hey everyone, it's Jack on Tami's phone. I'm proposing to Tami tonight - who wants in?" Within minutes, everyone voiced their enthusiasm and support, and a plan was hatched. We would meet up on the stern to "take group photos", which we'd talked about doing before. When it was our turn, I would drop to a knee and pop the question. A crucial detail in these proceedings was that the ring was not in a standard jewelry box, but a beautiful ornament in the shape of Sleeping Beauty Castle, which could only be transported in a giant square box. In order to avert suspicion, one of our friends (Matt) swung by our room to pocket the ring, to be given to me once we got up to the stern. Tami was waking up as this was happening, and so Matt gave us the cover story of going up to the stern and to check the app for further details. Tami, being the social one, of course did - only to discover that the group chat history had been deleted, with one solitary message remaining. "Babe? Why is this one person saying 'count me in'?" By this point, I was apparently acting a bit odd- odd enough that Tami gave me a pat-down to check my pockets. I looked at her quizzically - "What are you looking for? There's nothing in there" while grinning devilishly on the inside. I do so enjoy when a plan comes together. Upon arriving at the stern, the squad was already assembled and waiting for us. We started with a big group picture, then split into couples. I caught Matt's eye- it was time. He nodded and went over to his wife's purse to retrieve the ring- "BABE! Come over here!" Tami, completely unaware of what was happening and only knowing that we needed a phone to take a picture of ourselves, was calling me over. Her phone was full- we needed to use mine. "I know, just a sec-" "We need your phone, we're up next! Come over here!" I looked at Matt, some thirty feet away. Our panicked eyes met- I didn't have the ring yet. He motioned to me- "go! I'll think of something!" I walked feebly over to where Tami was waiting. Everyone waited breathlessly, knowing that the plan had gone awry. How were we to get out of this one? It was bright, the late afternoon sun making it difficult to see. Tami had sunglasses on- someone shouted that she should take them off. "Wait, no," Matt said. "Jack should put some sunglasses on to match her. Here, I have some in my wife's bag - let me give them to him!" He strode quickly forward. Tami turned around for a brief moment to adjust her sunglasses and fix her hair, turning her back to me for a few fateful seconds. Matt slipped me the box and mouthed "good luck" before darting off. I fumbled with the box, knowing that I only had moments before Tami turned back around. By the time she turned around, I was down on one knee, having somehow managed to open the box, remove the ornament, open the ornament, and get into position. The next few seconds seemed to take about an hour, although careful contemplation of the video afterwards revealed that it was really only a few seconds. I blacked out for the remainder of this time and am not altogether sure what happened next. I'm told she said yes, though.