Romantic Fireworks
My boyfriend, Rick, and I had been talking about getting engaged for awhile. We both knew we wanted to marry one another, but Rick wanted to do it right – he wanted to offer me a diamond ring and to have it be a surprise. It was frustrating for me. While I am a complete sucker for romance, I just wanted the engagement to be made official so I could tell all of my family and friends and start planning the wedding.
On the Fourth of July, two of our friends offered to join us to watch a fireworks show that the city pays for. In reality, everyone was doing it for me. Rick hates fireworks, he thinks they are a waste of money and are just a big flash and bang. Our friends came with merely so Rick wouldn’t be bored.
I was raised in a home where the Fourth of July was a big holiday. We always lit sparklers, fountains and bottle rockets, and then ended the night sitting on our inner-city front porch, watching the rich neighborhoods surrounding us shooting off expensive fireworks. The thought of having the Fourth go by without fireworks depressed me, so Rick planned for the four of us to watch the city’s fireworks show.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t exactly planned the entire event well. He planned for us to arrive at a beach twenty minutes before the show to find good seats and have time to relax before watching. By the time we got to the beach, the parking lot was full and the shore was crawling with city dwellers out to see the same thing we were.
We tried three different locations that would be good vantage points for the show, but all were ridiculously crowded. Finally, five minutes after the show had started, we settled on the parking lot of a thrift store near our house. It had a great view of the night sky, and most of the fireworks could be seen clearly.
Even though we were surrounded by factories and stores, it was still beautiful. We stayed in the car to avoid the steamy night and seedy neighborhood. Watching the fireworks through the front windshield was not exactly reminiscent of my childhood, but I did appreciate the effort Rick put into doing something just to make me happy.
In the middle of the show, Rick reached over and kissed me passionately. He held my hand and slid something into it. It was a beautiful engagement ring. I slipped it on and kissed him again. We didn’t say anything to our friends in the back of the car about it – this was our special moment and we would tell them a few days later, after our parents had been told.
When we got home from the fireworks show, we called our parents with the wonderful news. Rick was nervous about telling our parents, but they were happy for us. Their happiness made us even happier, and we didn’t stop holding hands the entire night.
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