A Proposal at the Alamo

Victoria is an amazing woman. Early on I knew we had something good going. She stuck with me when I was an idiot and broke my leg, and we were apart for over 3 months. I have seen her tested in many difficult times and she has persevered every single time. She is truly a strong woman. While we have had some difficult times in our relationship, we have always seemed to work through things and come out stronger. We make a great team and it’s very special what we have.

With that, I knew I wanted Victoria for forever. Being that I’m not the most traditional and wanted to give Victoria a one-of-a-kind engagement ring, I went through the process of having one made with an amethyst that I got in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

After the ring had been made, I knew I wanted to propose at The Alamo. Victoria and I had actually gone there impulsively on our first date after Starbucks had closed, and we decided we didn’t want the night to end there. The key was trying to figure out when I could do it.

Well, fast forward to Victoria’s company Christmas party. I knew if we got to San Antonio a bit early, the hotel we were staying at would be a short walk from The Alamo. After we parked the car in the parking garage, we started to walk around. Victoria just thought we were looking for food, so she wanted to stop at Whataburger.

Bright orange vertical Whataburger sign mounted on building at corner of E Commerce Street under clear blue sky

I told her there would probably be more food choices by The Alamo, so we kept walking. I continued to take pictures like I normally do, and it was clear she didn’t know what was going to happen.

Street corner view showing E Commerce Street sign and tourist directional signs pointing to River Walk, Alamo, Market Square, and Children's Museum Woman with long hair and sunglasses smiling at camera with downtown San Antonio buildings and parked cars in background

We saw signs for The Alamo and finally made our way to it.

Metal pedestrian bridge spanning street with decorative lattice railings, trees and downtown buildings visible Brick sidewalk alongside ornate metal bridge railing with shops and pedestrians visible along downtown street Colorful parrot sign mounted on brick building exterior advertising establishment along San Antonio street Tree-lined downtown sidewalk with pedestrian walking past storefronts on quiet street Busy Alamo Plaza intersection with mature oak trees, white van, and pedestrians crossing street White horse-drawn carriage passing through Alamo Plaza with historic buildings and large trees in background Woman in sunglasses smiling in profile with downtown plaza, vehicles, and historic buildings behind her Crowded Alamo Plaza with diverse group of visitors, soldier in uniform, mature oak trees overhead Alamo Plaza pavilion structure with domed roof under shade of large oak tree, visitors seated nearby

Now Victoria was hungry and started to pull out her phone to look for food. I tried walking a little closer to the actual building and to the actual spot we sat on our first date. Finally, I just said let’s sit down and then we can figure out food. When we got to the spot where we sat on our first date, I asked Victoria if this was the spot we sat on our first date. She said if it wasn’t, it was close.

Woman in Texas A&M sweatshirt standing near bench in shaded plaza area with shops and visitors in background Alamo Plaza view featuring tall Emily Morgan Hotel tower, the Alamo, mature trees, and visitors on lawn The Alamo mission building facade with crowds of tourists, Texas flag flying, modern buildings behind

Earlier, when we were in the parking garage of the hotel, the ring jingled in my pocket. I was then asked what it was, and I said it was my cell phone hitting my pocket notepad. Thankfully that was a sufficient answer for the time. The moment we sat down, I told Victoria that the noise in my pocket was something else. That’s where I pulled out the ring, got down on one knee, and then time seemed to stop as I asked her to marry me.

She said yes and then a bunch of people around us clapped. We got our first picture together as an engaged couple.

Couple posing together sitting on stone wall near the Alamo, man in dark shirt, woman in Texas A&M sweatshirt Selfie of bearded man and woman in sunglasses at the Alamo with tourists visible in background

Now it was time to tell everyone. I put a post on Facebook, and Victoria was buried in her phone for a while.

Woman in Texas A&M sweatshirt and blue mirrored sunglasses sitting on stone wall smiling at camera Woman sitting on stone pavement looking down at phone in Texas A&M sweatshirt with visitors in background Woman in dark jacket looking down at red phone case while sitting in shaded plaza area with visitors nearby

I was glad I was able to pull this off in the same spot as our first date and first kiss. We had talked about marriage in the past, but this proposal was a complete surprise to her. After spending a little time notifying people, we walked back and had a Texas-style celebration. I’ll leave that for another blog entry.

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