I began planning the details of engagement a couple of weeks in advance. One of our favorite spots in DC is the top of the Washington Monument. Getting to the top of the monument is not tricky if planned carefully. Typically, we only went to the monument when we had company from out of town. Asking Becca to go to the top just with me would have made her suspicious. So I began by telling her how beautiful the fall colors are (which they truly are) and how wonderful it would be to go up the monument to take some pictures. And she agreed!
We got the tickets for 4:30 PM, the time for the day's last elevator ride to go to the top of the monument. We were a little late in arriving to the monument on our engagement day but we made it just in time before the monument closed. Arriving late made our day very special as we were the only ones in the elevator with the guide on our ride to the top of the monument. This had never happened before. We always went up with elevator full of people. On the same hand, what arriving late did not help was with my nervousness. I was hoping to have enough time when we got to the top to feel relaxed before I proposed to her. My hopes vanished when the guide announced to us that we had less than 10 minutes to enjoy. I told myself, be cool and act fast! So at the first lookout window, I went through all that I had prepared and proposed to her. She began to cry and said yes!
Soon we were asked to board the elevator ride down as the monument was about to be closed. On our ride down, Becca's smiling face couldn't help but stare back and forth between the beautiful ring on her finger and me. Someone in the elevator whispered, "someone is engaged" and with that elevator came alive with "congratulations!" I remember our guide saying out loud, "oh my god, I just saw you 10 minutes ago. Congratulations!!!" The congratulatory notes did not just end there. While we were taking our first pictures as an engaged couple in the courtyard of the monuments, several visitors walked up to us to wish us congratulations. We felt strangely connected with all the strangers that we shared approximately 2 minutes on our ride down. To all the strangers who said congratulations, thank you!
And that's how we got engaged on top of the Washington Monument. I like to point that out to Becca every time the monument is in sight!
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