A touch of courage.

On Friday I asked your mother to marry me. I had thought about it before, and wondered if I could do something special for her, something super romantic. There were two problems with this. One, I am not very creative (I hope you take after your mother for that) and two, I am not very patient. So once I had the idea to ask your mother during our trip to Ecuador, that was it! Instead of dazzling her with private musicians playing classical hits and chilled champagne served on a river boat below the stars and going down on one knee while reciting a love poem recounting all the moments that lead me to love her so much, I nervously stuttered a bunch of repeated lines about how I didn't think marriage was necessary before trying to get a ring out of my pocket while sitting down and being interrupted by the waiter telling us that a cocktail without alcohol wasn't worth the effort (your mother didn't want to drink).

Luckily, your mother is an amazing person and she made me feel that the restaurant overlooking the city of Quito, with it's majestic basilica lit up against a dark night sky, was a perfectly romantic setting for a proposal and that my unconfident mutterings were like a Shakespearean sonnet. She is good like that your mother, she can make you feel real good about yourself.

I didn't ask your mother to marry me because you were coming to be with us. I asked her because I love her and had always wanted to share my life with her. But you gave me the courage to ask her, so thanks for that :)