 | It was our second trip to Negril, Jamaica and I was ready to spend some fun in the sun with my honey. We arrived to Negril on a Sunday afternoon and after settling in and taking a quick stroll on the beach, we checked out the nightly entertainment schedule. During our last visit The Silverbirds, an all steel drum band, performed an excellent rendention of Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" and we didn't want to miss their performance. We learned they were scheduled for Monday night so it was added to the itinerary!
Monday arrives and we go to breakfast as usual. I catch Sean zoning out a few times and then acting giddy when I get his attention. I was oblivious and thinking he's just excited to back in Jamaica! We headed to the beach to lounge for a few hours and then took a long stroll before a late lunch. While walking, we stopped at a local vendor's booth to peruse trinkets and I eyed two colorful sarongs that I had to have! Sean treats and on our way back to the resort area, I decided to run quickly to the room to stow away the purchase. [Exit: Kourtni] [Insert: Sean goes to work, I'll let him share his secret plan with perfect timing...]
It's now Monday evening, so we head over to the outdoor amphitheatre to hear The Silverbirds. Sean suggests that I go ahead and get a table close to the stage while he ran to the rest room. Part of this was true, the unspoken part was going by the room to get the ring. He returns and the band plays their opening song. Since steel drums are distinct, I only needed to hear the first few notes to recognize they are now playing "Thinking Out Loud". I grab Sean's hand and sing the first verse along with a few others in the crowd. I'm in pure bliss because I'm recognizing that I'm blessed to have such a wonderful and loving man in my life who would go to the moon and back for me. The band starts into the second verse and just after a few words in, Sean gets up and grabs my hand to lead me to the dance floor. My initial thought...why are we going to dance to a song that NOBODY is dancing too! I'm not one for attention however, if my baby wants to dance let's dance. We don't know any of these people so who really cares.
As we're swaying to the music, Sean gives me a spin (I think) and as I turn back around he drops to one knee. Of course by this point reality is setting in and the tears start to flow. On several occasions I took a few steps away from him while internally I really wanted to tackle him out of joy, but that would have been inappropriate. I also kissed his forehead and held his face in my hands. I finally stood still long enough to hear the words, "Will You Marry Me?" Now if the brother said anythng else before that, I'm none the wiser. I shook my head "yes" because I don't think my lips could move. He got up drenched with sweat, we embraced, and finished out our dance to the song.
The crowd is cheering, strangers are crying, and camera flashes are going off like paparazzi is everywhere. Even a few band members grabbed their cameras to get a pic of the action. On our way back to our table, we were met with flutes of champagne and a ton of congratulations. By the grace of God, two lovely strangers caught our special moment on camera and video! We will cherish this trip forever! The next day all we heard was "hey, its the couple, congratulations again". One woman said she was brought to tears since she missed her son's proposal, so ours took its place! It was wonderful to hear and feel genuine well wishes and prayers! |
