The Saturday morning of July 12th 2014 started out as many Saturdays do. Sarah's alarm went off at some terrible hour, she put scrubs on and headed off to MGH. A couple hours later Brad roused from sleep and thought of the things he wanted to get done that day. Suddenly his mind turned to buying an engagement ring. There hadn't been much doubt in Brad's mind that he and Sarah would one day be married. The thoughts in his head mostly centered around a simple question of "what am I waiting for?".
There was of course one other thing he had to do before popping the question besides securing a ring. So he quickly tapped out an email to Sean, Sarah's father, arranging for them to meet for breakfast Monday morning. As luck would have it, Brad was already planning on being in Rhode Island, so his rendevue with Sarah's father required no deciept to be kept a secret from Sarah
A trip to RI and several Jewelry stores later, Brad had secured the nessesary parental blessing and a ring to make his proposal plans a possibility. Then he was faced with an other conundrum. How and where to actually pop the question. Sarah was scheduled for clinic duty on Friday the 25th, which meant she would be getting out of the hospital some time around 4:30.
Suddenly the pieces were coming together. After Sarah got home from work, Brad would suggest going for a walk as they sometimes do. Finally he settled on the Esplanade as the ideal destination for their walk. If the timing were to work out as it looked like it would, the sun would just be setting at the time of the proposal. And a sunset on the Charles is one of the most beautiful sights in Boston
As a finishing touch, Brad made reservations at Eastern Standard so they could go celebrate their engagement back where it all began. But that introduced a logistical problem to the whole plan. If Maddie was the excuse to go for a walk, what would they do with her when it was time to go to dinner? Brad asked his good friend Jarrad to step in to solve this issue. Jarrad agreed to go to the esplanade after work and wait around for the couple to arrive, then walk Maddie back to the South End while Brad and Sarah head off to dinner. This solution even offered an additional benefit; Jarrad would use Brad's camera to capture the moment from a distance.
But, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men. After Brad had practiced pulling the ring out of his pocket inconspicuously for the 40th time or so, he got a text message from Sarah "I just got called out of clinic to the OR" followed by "Who knows when I'll be out."
As Sarah headed to the OR, Brad tried to figure out what to do with his nervous energy. He and Jarred started texting to arrange the best vantage point for the shot and settled on an angle from the Esplanade facing a small footbridge with the Charles River in the background, which allowed the sunset to be captured.
After a while of waiting in the Jeep outside the hospital, Brad asked Jarrad if he needed anything (such as dinner). Jarrad requested an iced coffee. Upon reaching Jarrad around the hatchshell to deliver the coffee, Sarah called to say she had just gotten out. By the time Brad got back to the Jeep, Sarah was already sitting in the passenger seat, waiting to be driven home.
Upon arriving at home, Brad stuck to the plan and suggested taking a walk, adding an additional flourish of having just been over by the Esplanade, wanting to go back because it was so pleasant. Sarah agreed and they set off, despite it already being dark out. They crossed over the lagoon and as soon as he was on solid ground, Brad started fishing around in his pocket for the ring. He had just hooked his finger around it when Maddie decided to dart after a group of squirrels. Thankfully, disaster was averted and he held onto the ring.
At the next footbridge they crossed back over the lagoon towards Boston. Just after stepping onto the bridge they could see a silver Mercedes parked on the other side of the bridge and perfectly lit, as if it were in a commercial. Sarah turned to Brad and asked "did you buy me that?" to which Brad replied "No, but I have a question" as he dropped to one knee "Will you marry me?" Sarah's only response was uncontrollable giggling and nodding. Brad got back to his feet to kiss her and officially transfer responsiblity for the ring to her.
After a long embrace Sarah couldn't resist asking "So, wait... the car too?" to which Brad replied, "No, just the ring." As they walked, Brad explained that he had reservations at Eastern Standard so they could go celebrate. Sarah asked "Oh, but what about Maddie?", to which Brad replied "Well... that's what Jarrad is here for." Sarah looked around and finally recognized the hulking man sitting on a nearby bench. Jarrad then got up and came over to congratulate the newly engaged couple. He explained that the camera didn't deal well with the moon light conditions. In reality, the result was more of a peice of abstract art.
As Jarrad was walking away to bring Maddie home, Sarah decided to ask him "So seriously... do I get the car?"