The Proposal

The Long Version

Background
October 19th, 1996

First, you have to know about the following personal aspects of our relationship.

Although we first met many years ago, it was some time before we began seeing each other on a regular basis. In fact, according to Jon's view of the world, it was on March 19, 1995, that we officially started "dating." That made the 19th of every month our "anniversary." October 19th, 1996 was the 19 month anniversary of when we began dating (very Junior High).
We recite cute quatrain poems to each other, then add the phrase "Burma Shave" at the end (like the old roadside ads:
We don't know why.
We love to ride roller coasters. Also, every year we make a trip with other friends to Great Adventure in October to ride the roller coasters.

According to Jon, here's what happened at the 1996 trip:

We planned our group's annual Great Adventure trip for October 19, 1996, but due to circumstances, only the two of us could go. We were awakened that morning by the sound of a huge storm (you may remember, it delayed the opening game of the World Series) that blew in.

We celebrated our anniversary when I gave Jeanne a copy of the book "The Verse By The Side Of The Road," which is a book about the history of the Burma Shave advertising campaign. The book even has every Burma Shave ad in it. She was happily surprised by the gift and thought that was our anniversary celebration.

Anyway, despite the horrible weather, I insisted we forge ahead with our plans, and arrived at the park at 11:00 am, only to learn the park was closing at noon. I went to the Guest Services window, ostensibly to try to get free admission for the hour, while Jeanne waited under an awning, getting cold and wet.

Despite our umbrellas, we were getting wet. It was cold, rainy, and windy, and very few people were there. Mostly season ticket holders. Anyway, after about 15 minutes, I announced to Jeanne they were going in. We ran to our favorite ride, Batman, an inverted roller coaster.

When we got to the ride, there were two other people standing near the entrance, debating whether or not to go on in the rain.

"Are you going on? 'Cause we'll go on if you go on," they said.

So all four of us got on the fourth row of the coaster and went around once. When the train pulled back into the station, the other two people said they had a bus to catch and left. But we moved up to the third row and went on the ride again, as the only two passengers. But this time, being closer to the front and less protected by the rows in front of us, we were pelted by the rain as the coaster zoomed around the track. We decided we'd had enough, got off the ride, and began walking down the exit ramp.

As we neared the bottom, there was a sign hanging from the railing which read:

A few feet further down the railing was another sign, which read:

Then, a little further on was another sign:

Then another:

Followed by:

And finally:

Standing in the soaking rain, Jeanne quickly said "Yes." But I hadn't actually asked her yet. I got down on one knee and repeated the poem, just to make it official. This time, Jeanne looked at me and said, "Do you mean it?"

The only gesture I could think of to prove my sincerity was to give up my umbrella. So I tossed it away, and knelt there in front of her. I pulled a ring out my pocket (no, not the ring, just my old school ring) and slipped it on her finger. Again, Jeanne said "Yes" and we hugged each other there, right by the exit to our favorite roller coaster.

I also had a camera in my pocket. When we first got on the ride, I had given the camera to the other people with us, but when they left after the first go round, they returned the camera. So now we were standing in the plaza outside the coaster, but there was nobody around to take our picture. So we took our signs and went home!

Three years later, we finally, sort of, recreated the proposal for the camera. Click on this thumbnail

to see Jon kneeling in front of Jeanne while a television crew holds up the original proposal signs.

Go to Jon and Jeanne's Honeymoon page

Back to Jon and Jeanne's page