The Setup
August - September 2000

Since Johannes had already asked my parents, I knew that a proposal was coming. There were also little things here and there that tipped me off that a plan was in the works. First of all, Johannes' family invited me to go to China with them over the winter holidays but I didn't think it would be appropriate for me to go if we weren't engaged. Johannes bought me a ticket anyway. Secondly, Johannes had started to do some serious research on the internet; from afar, I could sometimes make out the name, DiamondTalk.com, on his computer monitor. He became very secretive about his correspondences - making phone calls in other rooms if I was there, having things sent to his lab instead of the apartment, etc. I resigned myself to the fact that there was no way he could surprise me with a proposal now.

At first, I thought that Johannes was going to propose at the end of October on our 5th year anniversary. I thought this until the last week of September, in fact. I had purchased airplane tickets to go home for the last weekend in September, but I'd forgotten to tell Johannes. I basically told him on a Monday that I was going to be gone that weekend. He looked rather surprised and asked me why I hadn't mentioned this to him before. He tried to act like it was no big deal, but he also told me that he had made plans for us to go mountain biking that Saturday. Mind you, we never go mountain biking. Anyway, I got the hint and cancelled the tickets home. I told my parents the reason that I wouldn't be able to come home that weekend was because I was going to get engaged! It was a bold assumption, but I knew it was going to be Saturday for sure.

On Thursday September 28th, Johannes told me that he was going to take his car in to the Ford dealership for inspection. I didn't let on at the time, but I was pretty sure nothing was wrong with the car. I suspected that he was going diamond shopping to get the goods for Saturday. As he was about to leave, I got a call from a florist asking me what time I was going to be home because they had a delivery for me. I asked the florist whom the flowers were from, and the florist said that they were from my "friend's parents." Hands on hips and head tipped to the side, I asked Johannes if it was he who sent me the flowers "just because." Thought he was preparing me for the big day. Johannes was just as confused as I was, and called his parents to check whether they actually ordered the flowers. I heard them talking, and after a while, Johannes slipped into speaking German. I assumed that they were speaking about buying diamonds.