Matthew proposed on New Years Day, 2013.

We have a tradition:  On New Years Eve we lay low.  Avoid the crowds and the booze and spend the evening with friends.  Then the following night we organize a nice dinner at a steakhouse.  20-30 people get gussied up and go out on the town, which is unusually quiet.  We eat, we drink, we take turns giving a toast.  It’s a good time!

This year, though, we forgot that crucial first step.  On NYE, Molly wore sequins and Matthew wore a new suit.  We went out with friends.  Then we went out with more friends.  We drank, and we danced, and we took lots of silly pictures.  Molly was feeling the consequences the next morning!  After taking the dog out extremely briefly, she climbed back into bed.

She looked at Facebook and noticed that several more people she knows were posting pictures of engagement rings. She felt excited for them, a little jealous, and very nauseous (although the nausea wasn’t related to the engagements).  She nearly said something to Matthew, but closed her eyes instead.

Molly had been careful not to talk too much about getting engaged.  She had been anticipating it for ages – since our first vacation, when her boss suggested that he might propose while we were away.  We’d only been dating for a few months, and Molly wasn’t sure if she was ready then.  But she knew she was ready now, and she knew that Matthew would ask when was ready too.

Meanwhile, Matthew had been researching rings.  Early in his search, he bookmarked a vintage ring he found online.  It was a diamond, surrounded by a cluster of blue stones.  He looked at all kinds of rings, but he kept coming back to this one.  In his mind, Molly was the glittering stone in the middle, and the sapphires were bluebirds gathered around her.  When we met online, Molly’s user name had been “Little Bird”.  This seemed fitting.  He bought the ring.

Back to NYE+1, our traditional steak dinner.  Molly rallied and we got ready to go out.  Matthew had to think carefully when Molly asked advice about what she was wearing – he knew there’d be lots of pictures!  Some friends who live nearby came over, and we all piled into a cab.  Just as we were leaving, Matthew ran back inside saying he needed his camera, but really he was getting the ring!  At the curb, he offered to sit in the front seat, knowing that Molly would notice the ring box if we were squished next to each other.  No one had any idea!

There were 20 of us gathered at Smith & Wollensky: Jane and John, Molly A., River and Meaghan, Peter and Adriel, Karl and Kathy, Jim and Liz, Andi and Jeremy, Sean and Marion, Alex, Susanna, and Jen.

Per tradition, we each stood to toast to something good about the past year and a hope for the coming year.  Matthew suggested Molly start us off.  She talked about how happy she is to have our dog, Tony McAwesomePants, in her life, and how she’s looking forward to a year of love and adventure (little did she know!) Then one by one, our friends stood and shared their deep and true experiences from 2012 and their beautiful hopes for 2013.  There was talk of babies and love and work and opportunities.  It was so lovely!

Last, Matthew stood and said “In 2012, I was most grateful to spend the year with Molly,”  he reached out for her hand and continued, “I’m most looking forward to spending 2013 with Molly, and if I’m lucky she’ll spend the rest of her life with me.”  The ring came out, Molly said yes, someone tweeted about it, the world sort of stopped.

It was surreal!  Molly called her mum.  Everyone gave us congratulations.  The restaurant produced champagne.  The advice poured in.  We ate dessert.

After everyone left, we sat at the bar and talked about what this meant.  We talked about forever and love and commitment.  We held hands and looked into each others eyes.

From August 8, 2009, until December 31, 2012, we had chosen one another every day.  On January 1, 2013, we chose each other for the rest of our lives.