After a long and stressful year of work, Kenny's reconstructive knee surgery, and my grad school program, Kenny and I set a goal for ourselves to take a week long trip to Hawaii to relax and enjoy each others company. So on August 2nd we set out for the Hilton Waikaloa Resort. I was so ready to relax in the sun, drink yummy tropical drinks, and have fun with my boyfriend. We planned for a luau, swimming with dolphins, a couples massage on the beach, a trip to the BJ Penn gym in Hilo, and a lot of laying out and relaxing by the pool.
On Friday, August 5th, Kenny and I attended the luau at the resort. It was a wonderful evening. We had preferred seating, which meant a table close to the stage, a three course meal brought to our table, and unlimited drinks. We spent the time eating, enjoying the company of our table mates, drinking bottomless Blue Hawaiians, and watching the hula and fire dancers. Kenny even went up on the stage to dance the hula!
By the time the show was over, we were tipsy and tired, but so pleasantly content and happy. I was ready to get comfortable and call it a night. So Kenny and I headed upstairs to our room and I was just about to take off my shoes when he said, "Since you still have your shoes on, do you want to go get us some ice for a night cap?" A 'night cap!' I was thinking. After all the drinks we just consumed! "Oh, babe, I think I'm good, but I guess I can go get us some ice, and you can have a drink. I'll just have some ice water." Begrudgingly, I took the ice bucket and walked the long corridor to the ice machine. Unfortunately, when I got there, I discovered the ice machine was out of ice. Well, I wasn't about to go hunt down another ice machine, so I just headed back to the room.
When I reached the room, Kenny was pouring champagne and I told him the ice machine wasn't working (he said he wasn't expecting back so soon and quickly shoved the box into his pocket). I set the ice bucket down on the cocktail bar in our room as he offered champagne on the balcony instead. I relented and we headed out to the balcony, while I started to take off my lei. "Keep your lei on," he told me. Too tired to protest or suspect anything, I put my lei back in place.
The warm tropical breeze felt good on the balcony.
"Look!" he said, pointing out the fireworks across the bay. "Oh, wow!" I responded as I saw the fireworks go off, reflecting on the water. It was such a cool site.
The next thing I knew I turned toward him and he was down on one knee. Gasping, I put my hand to my mouth and started crying. This moment is still a blur in my memory, as if it were a dream, yet so vivid. "Will you marry me?" he asked, opening the box. I immediately said "yes!" (he later told me that this was the longest second of his life, because he could not tell if I was crying out of joy or sadness). We embraced and kissed, and I couldn't stop from simultaneously laughing and crying.
For the remainder of the evening, it was nearly 11 by this point, we walked the whole resort (which is quite big), hitched a ride on the gondola to its dock, and then walked past the lagoon. We stopped at a hammock and lay down, holding hands and gazing up at the stars while we reveled in our betrothal and the warm night. On our way back to the room, we stopped and watched the dolphins swimming their midnight laps. Happily tired, we crashed as soon as we got to our suite, and woke up with smiles on our faces.
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