Chris and Kathleen's Engagement

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Chris and Kathleen's Engagement

Our history together - My proposal story - Photos

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On June 9, 2001 I asked my best friend, Kathleen Silano, to marry me. We have been together for just over two years and I have never been happier. I look forward to the rest of my life with her.

Our History

We met in March of 1999 at a family event. My cousin Kerri and Kathleen were best friends throughout college. Kathleen attended the event to support my cousin Kerri.

Actual paper that Kerri wrote on!

Although neither of us intended to meet anyone there, we saw each other, and were introduced by Kerri. I knew of Kathleen, and she knew of me, but only because we each saw photos of each other in Kerri's photo albums prior to that event. We talked a little bit while we were there and got along really well. Although neither of us exchanged information, I was interested in getting to know her better. Later on, I mentioned to Kerri that her friend was really nice. I hinted that I would be interested in getting to know her better. Kerri took the hints and offered to give me her e-mail address so we could communicate. I gladly accepted and we went from there.

At the time, I had to go back to Columbus, OH for training at my new job (AirNet Express). I would be there for over a month straight and would not be getting home. Fortunately I had my computer there, so I sent her a message to say hi. This is what she wrote back:

Chris,

Hi! It was so nice to come back from Spring Break and have a message. I hope that things are going well for you...how is training going? do you know any one out in Ohio? I had a crazy week. I just moved into an apartment this past weekend w/ my older sister. Once everything is settled it will be fun, i am looking forward to having some parties! it is so hard coming back from having a week off! I have so much work to do! Did you always want to be a pilot? I know that you have an older sister...any other siblings? I have a HUGE family...I am one of five. As i said i have an older sister, she also went to Rutgers, two younger brothers and a younger sister.
well i don't want to overburden you w/ info...write me back when you get a chance. have a fun week!
kathleen

For the next month we exchanged e-mails almost daily. We asked lots of questions of each other and just chatted about the things going on in our lives. For me, I was learning a new plane, new job, and most of all I was learning how to stay awake all night. She was in school at Rutgers and had a new apartment at the time. We learned about our families, jobs, school, pretty much everything. After about 2 weeks I got her number and gave her a call. It was a little awkward considering we had only met once, but we talked for a while and it was nice.

When I got back from Ohio Kathleen said that her and her friends, including Kerri, were getting together one evening and that I should come over. I did, and again we had a great time talking. Later that week we met for lunch near her school. From that day on we met frequently until we started dating. That was in April of 1999.

Since then we have done just about everything together. We talk every day, we spend as much time as we can together, and we just plain HAVE FUN together!

In the summer of 2000 we both had major life changes together. I got a new job and was no longer working nights, and she finished school and got a job. My new job with Atlantic Coast Airlines has me away from home frequently, so that was something we both had to come to terms with. She started at Bloomberg shortly after school and had to learn how to be in the real world. It was a tough time for us both, but we supported each other and made it through.

Throughout our relationship we have made it a point to travel, see, and do fun things. We have said that we do not want to live our lives always saying "I have always wanted to do that.", that is why we make the effort and take these trips. We try to take trips that are not costly but are fun and interesting as well. The easiest one and the one that has had the most to do so far are frequent trips into Manhattan. It seems there is always more to do there. In our two years together we have gone many places. Some of the places we have gone are:

Syracuse, NY -- Frequently to visit my parents, sister, brother in law, niece, and nephew.
Niagara Falls
Skiing/Snow boarding in Vermont
Washington, DC -- While I was there for training.
Boston and Maine -- Recently

We love to do many things. We go to museums, art galleries, tourist things, shows, and neat places. Some of the things we have done are:

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC
Fogg Art Museum/Harvard, Boston, MA
Princeton Art Museum, Princeton, NJ
Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York City, NY
Museum of Natural History, New York City, NY
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY
New England Aquarium, Boston, MA
Butterfly Conservatory, Niagara Falls, CA
The Crayola Factory, Easton, PA
Ringling Bros. Circus, Philadelphia, PA
Big Apple Circus, New York City, NY
Duke Gardens, Botanical Garden, Somerset, NJ
Yankees Game against Cleveland Indians
NJ Festival of Ballooning, Readington, NJ
Sussex County Air Show, Sussex, NJ
Hot Air Ballooning
Backpacking on the Appliacian Trail near High Point, NJ

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Puerto Rican Day Parade (Unintentionally)
St.Patrick's Day Parade
Flying over New York City
Flying at AirNet

We also enjoy doing some tourist things.

Statue of Liberty
Twin Towers
FAO Schwartz
5th Avenue
Times Square
IMAX movies

The Living Sea
Fantasia 2000
Galapagos
Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure

Things we do occasionally are:

Mini Golf - looser pays for ice cream
Movies
Going to parks to hang out
Going for walks
Carving pumpkins
Picking things - peaches, strawberries, pumpkins

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The Proposal

Of all those things we have done, there is one that stands out more than the rest. Kathleen and I frequently go to a park that has a rose garden in it. Kathleen used to go there as a kid with her father, and has many great memories of that park as a child. We have gone there many times in the last 2 years and have had many great memories there as well.

When I was thinking about proposing to Kathleen I wanted it to be something special. I also wanted to do it somewhere that we could go back to later on. The place I came up with was the Rose Garden. I needed the roses to be in bloom, so I had to wait until at least June to ask her. The timing was right that I had some time off from work in June, so we ended up planning a vacation to Boston and Maine. I figured that was a perfect opportunity to ask her. We would have some time together and I would be able to adjust our schedules so that we could tell many people in person.

A few weeks before I started putting my plan in action. I went to a jeweler who is a friend of mine and picked out a ring. I already knew her size and had an idea of what she liked. I offered suggestions to Kathleen as to what we could do on our vacation. That left me enough room to play with the schedule so that we could go up to Syracuse and tell my parents. I took her to the rose garden and asked her silly questions like "Which ones do you like the most?", so I knew where to ask her, and I arranged a meeting with her father to ask his permission.

As the beginning of our vacation approached I put my plan into action. On Friday I met with her father at work to ask his permission to marry his daughter. I also took her flowers that day to throw her off. They were "Get Well" flowers because she was sick all week. I joked that they were really multipurpose flowers being that they really meant "I love you, Happy Vacation, and Get Well". What she did not know was that they were also because I was going to ask her to marry me the next day.

Saturday morning rolled around and we had plans to go to Colonial Park (the rose garden) and have a picnic together. We were also going to see the roses because they were supposed to be the peak for the whole year on that day. Good timing huh, that was not planned.

I was at her house that night, so we got up and got ready. About noon we arrived at the park, found a big tree in a big empty field (like in the movies), and had a lunch that we had packed. We also brought our softball gloves, so we played catch a little also. It was really fun.

Later in the day we went over to the rose garden. As we walked over there we saw a wedding party taking pictures near the roses. We stopped on a bench to watch a little bit. Kathleen really loves weddings and kids, so whenever we see them we usually watch a little bit. From there we headed the rest of the way to the garden. I had a chance to pull the ring out of it's protective sleeve I had. I wanted to slide it right on to her finger not give it to her in a box.

As we entered the rose garden the roses were amazing, they were in full bloom. We walked around the garden and I purposely avoided the roses she said she liked the most. We went to the back of the garden and started working our way back up. As we neared the ones she liked the most I noticed there was someone on the bench already. I wanted to be alone when I asked her, so I stalled by looking at something else. Fortunately Kathleen did not pick up that I was doing silly things.

As the couple left I walked over to the bench and we sat down. We do that often, so none of this was unusual for her. I again waited until there was almost no one around.

Once that happened I asked her to smell the roses behind us. That gave me a chance to pull the ring out of my pocket without her seeing me. I started getting nervous, so she asked why I was acting funny. I got down on one knee, asked her to marry me, and started sliding a ring on her finger. She did not realize what I was doing until she saw the ring, and heard me ask her. Once she realized, she was overcome with emotions and started crying with happiness. I gave her a big hug. I had to stop her for a second to ask what the answer was. I already knew, I just wanted to hear it for myself.

Afterwords we went back to her parents house and told her family. We asked them not to tell anyone because we wanted to tell my parents first and then tell our grandparents before everyone found out.

The next day we drove up to my parents house in Syracuse. We were not expected, so as my mom and dad saw us they were confused. We told them and they were really happy. We saw that a hot air balloon festival was going on that evening so we went there for a couple hours and then we went to tell Cindy's family.

The rest of the week was a vacation first in Boston, then in Maine. No one in our family knew all week because we wanted to tell our grandparents in person. On Monday the following week we drove from Boston directly to Brooklyn to tell each of Kathleen's Grandparents. After that we went to Staten Island to tell my Grandfather, then we made phone calls to everyone else. We got to tell as many people as possible in person. It was really great. I think it was everything Kathleen could have dreamed of for a proposal.

The best part about it is that now we get to spend the rest of our lives together.