Excerpt from courtship-stories.com

Dedicated to Aileen and Ryan

Though sweet and thoughtful,Ryan didn't often indulge Aileen with flowers or moonlit walks on the beach.

So imagine Aileen's surprise when he suddenly turned romantic and insisted on a stroll in the sand in Hawaii."I wanted to propose on the beach,but it was pretty coldand windy,"Ryan said."I wanted to be romantic,how you picture it happening in the movies."


Aileen recalled Ryan's persistence about walking on the beach.She wore a tiny dress and wanted to get out of the cold."Fine,let's get this over with,"she told him"She was arguing all the way,"Ryan said.

"‘Why are here? You never want to go on the beach.'" They made it as far as a bench.Aileen sat down, shivering. Ryan knelt down and Aileen assumed that he wanted to snuggle."Babe,what are you doing?"she said.

"You're beautiful.I love you,"he said."You mean the world to me. Will you marry me?"Ryan slipped a ring on her finger so big that the prongs could barely contain the stone.

In the dark, Aileen didn't realize it was the three-carat cubic zirconia ring she had bought at Macy's as a joke."I know it's not the real thing,but I wanted to propose this weekend,"Ryan said.

He would give her the flawlessdiamond when they returned."I didn't want to pass upthis beautiful opportunity.""Yes,of course,"Aileen said.She hugged him and cried.Then she giggled and laughed.And then she froze."I was happy.I was really impressed by what he did.He cannot hold a surprise."