I don’t know where this story began but I think it was sometime in September 2004.  At the time I knew I wanted to marry Mariana and I wanted to ask her in a big way.  The biggest way I could think of was asking her at a Swing Dance.  Mariana and I met through swing dancing and had been dancing with each other for over 3 years.  It was a natural decision that made me nervous/excited every time I thought about it.

My first step towards the engagement was telling my sister, Jenn, when I was visiting her in Mexico.  Both Jenn and Collin thought it was a great idea and gave me their permission.  My next step was to tell my parents around Christmas time.  My Mom made the usual argument that I had to wait until I was 30 but then eventually gave in.  I told my brother later on in January and he agreed to it.  My whole family had agreed to it; now I had to find a ring.

After a couple of weeks of searching I found “The Ring” at Tres Ors in Kingston.  I loved it right away and they even let me take the display ring for the weekend.  I left the jeweler and went for a dentist appointment.  All the Hygienists thought it was a beautiful ring.  I thought about it for the weekend, showed to a bunch of people and everyone thought it was nice.  On a Saturday in February, my brother Dave and I went to the store and ordered the engagement ring.

My next hurdle was asking Mariana’s family including some who did not speak English very well.  I am very grateful to Tiago and Andrezza for taking to time to teach me how to ask Mariana’s family in Brazilian Portuguese.

On Friday March 11, 2005, Mariana’s Birthday, I picked up the engagement ring but I did not plan to ask for another couple of weeks.  I was hoping to ask Mariana’s dad, Jorge’s permission in person but engagement rings are really hard to keep a secret.

Saturday, March 12 there was a workshop with the Swing Air Force (SAF) from Montreal and there was a huge dance on Saturday night.  The SAF were going to be doing some performances at the Saturday Night dance so Mariana invited my parents and her Brazilian friends Tiago and Andrezza.  As I was driving home for the workshop I realized that night was the perfect dance to ask Mariana.

After dinner with my parents, where I told them my plans, I decided that I was going to ask her that night.  My first call was to Jorge and Monica’s house.  I talked to Cesar, Jorge and Monica and they were all happy about it.  Cesar gave me the number for Maria Elisa, Mariana’s mom, in Brazil.  I called her, asked her in Portuguese and she said yes.  I had all the permission I needed.

At the dance I ran into Aiden Fisher who was acting as master of Ceremonies and told him my plan.  He thought it was an awesome idea and agreed to help me.  We arranged that he would give me the microphone after Mariana’s Birthday Circle. 

The Birthday dance happened around 12:30 at night.  I was the first person to dance with her and I was also the last.  While Mariana was dancing with other leads my Dad gave me the ring.  It was a long fast song and Mariana was thirsty afterwards but I pulled her back into the circle.  Aiden gave me the microphone and I stumbled over some stuff.  I told them I had one more present for Mariana and pulled out the ring box.  People started cheering.  I opened the ring box and got down on one knee.  The cheering got louder.  I asked her to marry me and you could not hear it over the cheering.  She said yes while crying happy tears.  It was perfect, the way we both wanted it.