From her perspective

She didn't see it coming.  She knew it would happen eventually, but the precise moment in time was lost to her.  It was a cold night on December 30, 2009, and they were on their way to see Wizard of Oz on stage. But the play was the least important event of the night. The least life changing.

He picked her up and opened her door for her.  When he got in, she complained about it being cold, and reached for his coat in the backseat.  "No!" He grabbed the jacket from her. "It's mine."

He put the coat back in the backseat, and smiled at her with a small laugh. "I'm sorry- but I might need it later."

They had dinner at Red Lobster. She ordered shrimp, and he nervously choked down some biscuits.

They arrived at the parking garage, and walked across the Reedy River to the Peace Center. As they walked they held hands. Beside the fountain, over the bridge.  She noticed his eyes were more focused on the surroundings than on her.

"I'm still cold." She said, smiling up at him, her eyes saying so much more than her voice.

He put his arm around her, holding her close. They made their way into the Peace Center, and up to the ticket counter.

There was an old, kind woman behind the counter. "There are twenty minutes until the doors open, dear."
She smiled at the couple, studied their faces, and said, "But you can walk around for a while."

The couple went upstairs and to a hallway overlooking downtown Greenville and the Reedy River.
He wrapped his arms around her, like a bear, as they stared out over the city.

And everything seemed perfect.
But then the fire alarm went off, and the couple was evacuated to the outside patio along with the other patrons waiting to watch the play.

"I'm cold," she said, looking up at him with eyes he could not deny.

He looked around for a second, and took off his coat.  She noticed there were several people staring at him as he gave her his coat.

The play began, and ended, in what seemed like a second. And before they knew it, they were walking back to their car across the river.

Holding hands, they made their way down the stairs, as he looked at her, and nervously said, "You know that I love you, right?"
She laughed, "of course, silly."
"Good." He said, staring straight ahead.  She could tell he was nervous about something.

They made their way over the bridge. He stopped her mid-way.
 "You know that your my best friend, right?"
She laughed less this time, but still smiled, "Yes."
Again, he looked straight ahead, looking for words.
"Good."

They started walking past the fountain, and could see their car up ahead.  His hands were sweaty in hers.
"Let's sit down here for a minute." He said, voice shaking. "It's pretty tonight."

He took a deep breath.

Her heart pounded.

He stared at her in a way he had never stared at her before.

In what seemed like a nanosecond, he moved from sitting on the bench, to down on his knee in front of her.

She laughed, "What are you doing?"

He looked up at her, hands shaking as he reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a small red box.
He had words he wanted to say- a speech, a sonnet. But all he could muster up was, "Dorothy Lee Nowak, will you marry me?"

"Of course I will!" She smiled brighter than she ever had before, as she watched the ring slide onto her finger.

Just then, a little girl and her grandmother walked by.
"Look Grandma! Their kissing. Ewww!"
"Honey, be quiet, this is a sweet moment, not a gross moment."

He looked into his new fiancées eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you my coat earlier.  I didn't want you to find it. A couple of people did see it when I had to move it into my pants pocket. I was scared you'd notice that."

Their lives changed that night. Nothing was the same as it was when they arrived. And she never saw it coming.