My fiancé Eric and I met in Pittsburgh, where he came for his pediatric residency and I came for grad school. We had been together for about a year and a half when we began to talk about getting married in Pittsburgh before finishing our programs. We had a little over a year left, and we began shopping for rings. We happened to be in Chicago visiting friends when I found the perfect setting for my engagement ring. Unfortunately, the jeweler told us that it would probably take about four weeks to get the setting custom made for the diamond Eric already bought in Pittsburgh. She mentioned that she would try to get it done sooner. A few weeks later on Memorial Day weekend, we left Pittsburgh to visit my family in NJ. No word from Eric about the ring, so I assumed the jeweler couldn’t get it done on time for me to show my family and friends. I was so disappointed because it wasn?t often that we had the chance to visit. That weekend, Eric wanted to see the sunrise at the beach, so on Sunday morning, we left the house at 4:30 a.m. to drive to the shore. It was cloudy, so we never saw the sunrise. Instead, we sat on a beach blanket watching the waves and playing frisbee with Hamlet, our yellow Labrador retriever. Even if I never got a diamond ring, I lacked absolutely nothing. I had grown up on this beach. There was no place I would rather be than at the waves of the Atlantic. I was in love with Eric. We walked along the shore looking for seashells with Hamlet running beside us. The sight of Hamlet?s grin as he pranced along the shore with wet, floppy ears was reflective of all the happiness that was evident in our lives. Suddenly, Eric claimed, "I found a big seashell!" As I turned to look, he was kneeling before me with the ring I had picked out, asking me to marry him. Even amidst clouds, the diamond shone a bright white. It was the most beautiful seashell I had ever seen. As it turned out, the setting had arrived via FedEx the day we left for NJ, and Eric secretly had it mounted that very same day at the jeweler in Pittsburgh.
Sandy Tseng
Pittsburgh, PA
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