Proposal #2 - Saturday, July 28, 2001

I thought it was only fitting to sweep Uwe off his feet and surprise him with a proposal of my own. Below is the e-mail that Uwe sent which tells the story of how I proposed to him. (I do have a photo from that day but unfortunately it's packed away in a box somewhere in the garage and I wasn't able to find it.)
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Subject: The best company party ever!

Last Saturday (July 28) Rose and I were on our way to the summer party of her company. Everybody knows how exciting such occasions are and I hid my anticipation behind subtleties such as: "Can we go home earlier?" or "Do we have to go?" Rose insisted on driving and even didn't allow me to help her with the directions.

The party was supposed to happen in Santa Monica and I questioned her directions when she turned from 10 West to the 405 North. Questions turned into suspicion after we passed The Getty Center and headed towards the Valley. I turned into Bart and Lisa by asking Rose every two seconds: 'Where are we going?' The only answer was her smile and 'Relax.' Ten million theories raced through my mind: 'Was the company party moved to Area 51?', 'Did an alien take over Rose's mind and will I be used for scientific experiments?', 'Was a hacker taking over Mapblast and guiding us to a White Castle burger stand?' While all these theories were formed in my mind, my mouth repeated 'Where are we going?' and Rose just smiled. We drove past the 101 and exited somewhere in Van Nuys. Van Nuys? What could we possibly do in Van Nuys? We drove through an industrial area and at that point I just gave up. Company party and industrial zone didn't make any sense and so I just leaned back and forced my mind to stop guessing. We stopped in front of a restaurant and were escorted to a limousine.

The short limousine ride ended on a darkened airfield. It resembled a scene out of old spy movies and for a moment I thought Rose would exchange me for a Russian spy. To my relief, Rose still seemed very happy with me and there were no Russians to be found. Once inside the helicopter, Rose buckled me in and we were airborne. At that point I realized that the company party would take place without us and that Rose had taken me on the ride of my life. I was so overwhelmed by her thoughtfulness and all the planning that I missed part of the flight because some watery liquids were forming in my eyes. Most of you don't know that my childhood dream was to become a pilot and that I always wanted to fly in a helicopter over the skyscrapers of downtown at sunset.

We took off and flew past Van Nuys, Universal City, Mulholland Drive, circled Chinese Theatre, had a quick look at Paramount Studios, Staples Center and cruised through downtown. One hand was needed to hold Rose's hand, the other hand was needed for my watery eyes. On the way back, we saw my beloved Dodgers Stadium, flew by my old Los Feliz neighborhood and greeted Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign. Without any warning, Rose dropped a small booklet in my hand, entitled: 'You are the love of my life.' And in that she writes about my dream of flying in a helicopter through downtown and how she wanted to make my dream come true. And...'I want us to realize all of our dreams together, throughout our married life. One dream after another.'

And, then came the BIG surprise:

'Uwe, will you marry me?' I just nodded and smiled and cried and kissed her. To this day, I don't think I was able to say yes. Thankfully, she took my nod as a yes and presented me with the engagement/wedding ring. To make a perfect surprise even more perfect, she had ordered a bottle of champagne and we drank our first glass of the champagne as a double-engaged couple in the air, right above Hollywood. I don't really remember a lot from the rest of the evening...there was a beautiful dinner at the restaurant next to the airfield and we met good friends at the Good Luck Bar. (Thank you guys for coming. I really appreciate it.)

I knew when I met Rose that we would experience the journey of a lifetime. Little did I know that making my childhood dreams come true would be part of the journey.

I'm writing this e-mail to all of you because you're all part of our journey. And we'd like to share the good times with our friends. (And, yes, the bad times.) We're very grateful for you being our friends and are so excited about the future. And, best of all, the journey has just begun. Fasten your seatbelts. More good times to come.

Uwe

'Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love.'