the proposal
Location:...a magical mile-long street, in beautiful Aoyama. Lined with gorgeous trees all the way down the path, which lead to a distant magnificent museum. When we met four years ago, we spent our first date - an entire evening, all the way to the last train - sitting on a bench underneath the beautiful calm sea of yellow leaves...which were then falling and covering the street and sidewalks entirely - creating the yellow brick road. We talked about our faith and family and friendships. We laughed about life and love (and our not-as-large-as-we-thought language gap when discussing matters of the heart), and also shared a few stories of heartache. We spoke about God's role in our lives and we danced under the stars... There was something in the air, and we discovered that this street is most definitely magical.
How it went down: OK, fast-forward 3.5 years. It was March 16th, 2009, the 1st anniversary of my Grandma's passing. She was such a stronghold in my life, and her passing hit me like a ton of bricks. I had dreaded this day for months and Kaata was well-aware. In Buddhist/Shinto/Japanese tradition, the 1st year anniversary is a time to honor the spirit of your anscestor by praying a special prayer, lighting incense and providing a special offering for that person. He asked me if it was OK for his family to do this for Grandma, and it was more than OK with me. Before going to his house to pray he took me to La Jolla, the best-almost-perfect-tex-mex that you can get in Tokyo, known to every Tokyo Disneyland performer and nearly all gaijin in town. It's my favorite, and since Grandma and I always had mexican food together, it was fitting. After dinner we went to his home and prayed for my grandma with his family, and it was pretty emotional. Afterward, just as I was sitting to have tea with his mom, he got really impatient and wanted to leave. He told me that he wanted to take a walk down the yellow brick road, the location of our first date, so that we could think... Completely unsuspecting me (he wouldn't look at rings with me for months)- didn't even see right through the BGM that he set his iphone to as we walked down our peaceful path (yes, really, BGM! hahaha). He spoke of love and life and how happy my grandma would be that I was happy and living a life full of love. He spoke wisely and smoothly and lifted my spirits entirely. He mentioned that this was a day to celebrate and not to be sad. He said that Grandma would be so upset knowing how sad I was - He spoke about how beautiful life is and how beautiful his life has become since we found each other 3.5 years ago. His words were so beautiful and romantic (I'll keep some of the mushy details to myself) and after a few moments, he suddenly stopped walking, knealt down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and said (in English!): 'Lindsay Marie Cady, do you wanna, no, umm, will you marry with me?' The world was spinning. I cried and WE cried and laughed and cried some more, and hugged and kissed all before I could utter 'Yes, mochiron!' ('Of Course!')...and certainly it was indeed a day to celebrate.
Tiffany's ''Ribbon'' ring
our yellow brick road
