AUSTIN & NNEKA

Our Story...

Her Story

Austin and I  planned to go in to Boston for a date. He kept asking what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. Eventually I said that I wanted to eat at Parish Cafe, where we had our first date. We had gone there once since our first date, so it wasn't too unusual.  I think at some point in our planning I had suggested going up to Boston on Sunday instead of Saturday, but Austin insisted on Saturday. Did I think there was a chance he could propose...it crossed my mind. That Saturday that he wanted to go up to Boston was exactly one month from my birthday and Austin had been saying he would propose before my birthday. Then again, I didn't want to get my hopes up because there were no signs of an impending proposal. I didn't see him sneaking in to the apartment to hide a box, no hint-dropping, no trips to the jeweler that I knew of... nothing! 

 

So that Saturday, August 3, Austin was hurrying me to get ready. Again, this is not unusual because he is usually ready when I am still in the early stages of the primping process. Eventually we made it to Parish Cafe (early, I might add). We waited for a bit to be seated, then ate outside...just like we did on our first date. When we were done, we walked to Boston Common. On the way there, Austin tried to stall me. He asked if I had to go to the bathroom, I said no. He asked if I wanted to sit down, I said no. Then he said he wanted to sit down so we did. We had an awkward conversation while he kept looking at his phone. Little did I know, Austin was trying to make sure that my sister and other family members were in place for the engagement. Eventually, we started walking again.  I really knew something was up when we got to the frog pond and were standing on the bridge. Austin told me to take a picture of the Swan boats and I couldn't understand why. Then I thought, "oh my gosh, he's proposing!" I though maybe there would be a sign or something on one of the boats that read, "will you marry me?" I snapped a picture then...nothing. Everything looked the same. That is until I heard Austin say, "I want to ask you something." I turned around and he was getting down on one knee. I was so surprised/shocked/excited that I gave a startled laugh and then started to cry. He shushed me so that I could hear him say, "I've said it before, but you are the best thing that's ever happened to me. Will you marry me?" I was still crying at this point, but I managed to stop long enough to say, "of course." Meanwhile, everyone on the bridge had stopped to watch the proposal. And when I said yes and Austin put the ring on my finger, everyone cheered. Then Austin told me that my whole family was there. Then, I started crying even more. The all came out from where they were and there was a lot of hugging, a lot of tears, and a lot of picture taking. Then, we met up with Austin's parents and grandmother and the Nwosu-Faison clan went out to celebrate. It was like a mini engagement party. The best day of my life...until we get married of course!

 

I never dreamed about my proposal or even imagined that someone would fall in love with me and want to get married. In the end, Austin's proposal was much better than anything I could have imagined. For the first time, reality is better than my dreams.

 

His Story

I had been working on proposing to Nneka for a few months. First, I had to get the ring, with an assist from a grad school friend. Once that was lined up, then I got our families on board. I wanted to make sure that we had the chance to share the excitement of the proposal with both families, because we were going to become one family and many members had not yet met.

 

When the day came, we first went to the Parrish Cafe, which is the restaurant where we went on our first date (I tricked Nneka into proposing it, even though I had a reservation). From there, and after multiple texts with Nneka's siblings, we walked to the Boston Public Gardens. I tried to delay to make sure that everyone would be in the area.

 

Once I got my act together, I asked her to take a picture of the swan boats. After a little hesistancy and haggling, she turned around to take the picture. The picture on the left is when I dropped down on one knee and told her that she was the best thing that had ever happened to me.