Did you ever have one of those moments that at first seem totally ordinary, but suddenly turn into something spectacular and unforgettable? And, after your heart stops palpitating, you think, I was there to be part of this extraordinary event!
That happened to me last December, when my husband and I overnighted at Niagara on the Lake, which has become a tradition for us. (Hint: check out the bargain rates around Christmas.) Some years, the weather is nice enough to stroll up and down the streets in a light coat. Other years, as the snow falls, you feel like you’re inside a Hallmark snow globe. Though snowy evenings can be beautiful, after a few minutes of tramping around in heavy boots, I’m ready for sitting around a fire with a cup of hot chocolate.
When we checked into our hotel, the bubbly and chatty front desk clerk gave us a rundown of fun places to visit in the area, including The Pillar & Post’s outdoor holiday display. That sounded great, but as we enjoyed dinner at my favourite Japanese restaurant, and watched the swirling snow outside the window, I began to wonder if a fifteen-minute hike to The P & P was a prudent choice.
As we headed back to our hotel, I felt we needed to check out the display. “Let’s go!” I said, and before my husband had time to go, “Huh?” we were in the car, and off we went.
The only thing more amazing than finding a parking space right across from the hotel was the beautiful holiday decorations lighting up the area. We entered the commons through a walkway lit with dozens of twinkling poles. Sparkly Christmas trees were everywhere. To the right was a skating rink; to the left, a huge gaily-wrapped present made of lights, and a lighted bridge that arched over a burbling stream that seemed a degree or two away from freezing.
Approaching the bridge, we saw a young couple that appeared to be sharing a private moment. Ah, young love. “Let’s leave them be,” my husband said, but before we could turn away, the fellow asked us to take the couple’s picture. I gave him a big smile as he handed me his phone and as I readied to frame the shot, he faced his girlfriend and got down on one knee.
When he brought out a little black box from his coat and offered it to his beloved, my husband exclaimed, “Are you kidding me?” He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
I snapped several pictures as he asked her to marry him. She was surprised and, beaming with enough warmth to melt snow, said yes.
I mentally said a quick prayer to bless the couple, and thanked my guides for steering me towards this unique opportunity to witness – and record – this special moment for the couple. In a unique way, we became part of this couple’s story, and I could feel that many years from now, they’d tell their children – maybe even their grandchildren – about the two people who came out of nowhere to record their engagement picture on a snowy bridge three days before Christmas.
We happened to run into the couple a bit later and the fellow said he’d had the idea of hiring someone to photograph him proposing on the bridge, but those folks cost upwards of $1,000 to do the deed. I told him we were glad to be of service and wished the couple long and happy lives.
Walking back to the car, I reflected on my own engagement moment: sitting in a park overlooking Lake Erie that evening, the sun slipping down below the horizon, the sky splashed with sunset colours, my fiancé slipping a ring on my finger as he asked me to marry him…
I gazed at him. He smiled back at me.
“We should’ve told the hotel we were celebrating an anniversary,” he said. “I bet they would’ve put chocolates on the pillows.”
Sigh. My husband… the romantic.
If you have any questions or comments on this subject or on any other spiritual matter, feel free to write me. And please visit me again!