MichaelF
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2003
- Messages
- 70
Well I am finally back here on pricescope.com… The last two weeks have been wonderful, and quite the ride. The ring was done two weeks ago today and I have pics posted here on ps.com at
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/flash-sparkle.8595/}
Close ups of the diamond are at:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/de-pics-are-here-woooo-hoooo.8021/}
Specs on the diamond are here:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/including-inclusions.7967/}
I purchased my diamond from Deinise at White Flash, the stone is White Flash A Cut Above branded stone of 1.273 carats and just over 7.02 mm in diameter. More specs are in the links above. I can not say enough about the entire team at White Flash, they make "awesome" look bad. Denise was taking my calls even when I just needed to whimper about my worries and wonder if Rose would say "yes"! At one point I was going to break off our discussions because of my concerns about needing a custom setting. It was Denise who stepped in with WF's custom setting services and that kept us talking. In the end I went with a local wholesale manufacturer, but if it wasn't for her move, things may have had a very different turn.
One thing about Denise, I am indebted to her for all of her encouragement and she was disappointed at the end of our first transaction. I have a rather deep "radio voice" and Denise said she'll miss hearing me call and talk over the phone. I told her if Rose says "yes" I'd call and read her a Harlequin Romance over the phone… Looks like I'm making a trip to Borders in the near future! LOL…
Did I get a great deal on this diamond, well some might think differently, I got it for less than what was published and I saw a smaller branded stone in a B&M store with all other specs the same for $5,000 more than I paid. My final appraisal (set) was $2,500 more than I paid… So I think I did rather well. Even better, thae rock sparkles so much that we went to a meeting two weeks ago and women across the room saw the thing and ran over to comment on its beauty. This I owe to y'all and this forum for making sure I got a diamond that has a first class cut!
Okay, now that all the technical stuff is out of the way… Two weeks ago today, Rose and I had reservations for dinner at Kinkeads in Washington, DC. Kinkeads is the best seafood restaurant in DC, Rose had no idea this is where we were going (important point later in the story). The ring ran behind schedule due to some problems with the wire transfer at the bank that delayed the release for the diamond from my appraiser. I still had to get the diamond from the appraiser, to the jeweler, and then the jeweler was not going to be done until late Friday afternoon (two weeks ago today on the first). Then it was going to be back to the appraiser for final photos and appraisal of the set ring. Combine all of this with Friday rush hour and Rose being dead tired from a trip to NY it seemed like a disaster waiting to happen.
Rose didn't want to go to dinner on Friday, so I cancelled the reservation and was crazy and frustrated because it takes two weeks or longer to get a seat at Kinkeads. I prayed that God would guide me and show me the perfect time and place to make the proposal, and heard silence… LOL… Just like God, he loves to watch me follow through then He speaks up… Okay, so the reservation gets cancelled and Rose calls wanting to see a play that weekend, and as it turns out I secured two tickets to a play at the Kennedy Center for Saturday night. Things moved fast Friday. I got the ring and final appraisal and was walking around with this bulging ring box in my pocket… "No, I'm not glad to see you, it's just a diamond in my pocket!" LOL…
I was going crazy with this ring in my pocket and not on her finger. If you read my post on August 1st, you know how loony I had become! It just got worse, and that night Rose and I ended up at The Mall… Whoa, I'm thinking this will work great! I'll pop the question tonight after all. Right at the Lincoln Memorial and nobody goes there on a Friday night! Well… Nobody except 1,000 tourists from out of town! LOL… So, how about the reflecting pool where the Washington Monument shimmers in the night? That would be cool… except the water was stagnant and smelled like a sewer! So, after our walk I suggested dinner, and she says… "Sure let's go to the Silver Diner"! Argh! There are few places I wont propose, and they include McDonalds and a diner! LOL… Friday was a disaster and I decided to hold the ring and pray some more that God would present the moment and place…
We got a place to stay downtown (her idea at the last moment) and I figure this is my prayers getting answered. We get rooms at a cool hotel called The George, and I'm running all over Saturday morning setting up a greeting of a dozen dozen roses… Yup 144 buds of different colors all around the room! We are going downtown to check in and walk around when Rose announces she's starving and starts flipping through a restaurant guide. She stops and comments she found a place that sound awesome! Yup… you got it… Kinkeads (the same place we were suppose to go on Friday, but cancelled and we are now without a reservation). I jump on the phone and call…
The team at Kinkeads was awesome! The remembered my plans and me and asked if it was still my plan to propose. I said "Yup", and they told me to get my butt over there fast and no matter what they would make sure I had a prime table! So we get to The George, check in, and hop a cab over to Pennsylvania Avenue to Kinkeads, and as promised we get a nice table upstairs. I'm taking this as a God thing and my prayers being answered so I figure this is the time and place…
I start by telling here about how much I love her, and about wonderful life has been with her in it. I go on to tell her that I have prayed much about my life and our relationship. And, I have come to know that the next turn, the next direction I head will depend on the answer to a question and that question is not to me, but that it is from me to her. Okay, so I should point out that at this point I start to cry and she does a little too. Then I stand up and I'm sobbing like a baby and she says something like…" Oh no… " I come around the table and drop to my left knee.
At this point, the entire dining room seems far away and I hear a woman in the back say "Oh my… It’s a proposal!" At that point I heard about 30 chairs slide back, and people raise to a standing position and the room got completely silent! Rose said something like…"Are sure you want to do this here!?" I said; "The more people who witness this the better, I have no secrets with you and I love you and if it were up to me I would let the entire world know that I love you. A week from now these people will be forgotten, but you have captured my heart and I can not wait another second. I love you Rose, I can not imagine not spending a day let alone the rest of my life without you in it, and I would like to know would you grow old with me and be my wife?"
At this point anyone sitting pushes their chair back and stands, everyone standing starts cheering and clapping, and the noise is deafening. The wait staff in their entirety comes running into the room to see what the commotion is all about and I'm going crazy crying my head off and now Rose is crying like crazy. Then half the women in Kinkeads started crying and about a quarter of the men were wiping their eyes. I stand up and started waiving my hands and hollering for everyone to be quiet and once I get them under control I said…"Hey, did anyone hear her say 'Yes'?" Some guy in the back of the room says, "Come to think of it , I didn't hear her say a word!" With that rose looked up and her weeping eyes met mine and she said; "Yes! Yes, I do love you! And, yes I will marry you!" With that there was another round of applause, crying, and cheering… Oh yeah… When Rose got her 144 roses, all different colors… I told her that every color rose represents a different type of love, and I wanted her to know that I have them all for her and her alone…
I'll post the details on White Flash, Martin Fuller & Associates, and Quest Manufacturing under a separate post…
Good to be back…
Michael
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