A Valentine's Day Proposal: Before Cell Phones

Twenty seven years ago tomorrow my dear husband, Jerry, gave me my engagement ring at a small bistro in Claremont, CA.  It was charming bistro with wood floors, high ceiling, and a good chardonnay on the wine list...and boy did we need that chardonnay.  Because getting to that restaurant  turned out to be quite the adventure.

Jerry and I had pretty much decided on New Year's Eve (at the lovely and romantic Two Bunch Palms in Desert Hot Springs) that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.  After a bit more soul searching and a little diamond shopping, we decided to make it official on Valentine's Day.

At that time Jerry was working full time for an investment management company in Newport Beach and taught investments part time at the Claremont Business School (about 6o miles inland from NB).  I was a partner in a small environmental consulting firm also in Newport Beach and we had a contract with the Claremont planning department.  Valentine's Day fell on one of Jerry's "teaching nights" and I had business meetings at Claremont city hall that day.

So we decided to have an early bird dinner at this lovely bistro in charming downtown Claremont  before his class. I had one of my employees drop me off at the restaurant where I was to meet Jerry.  And where I proceeded to wait and wait and fume and wait and worry and wait.

This was 28 years ago when cell phones were the size of shoes and hardly anybody had a personal one, I certainly didn't. After asking the hostess, too many times to count if Jerry had called,  I walked a block from the bistro where there was a pay phone and called his office.  They said, "he'd left at 3:00".  That was plenty of time to get to Claremont.  I thought "OK maybe there was a bad accident and he's stuck in traffic".  But I had no way to know because not only is this before the time everyone had a cell phone in their pocket, this was before smart phones and twitter where I could check traffic conditions.  So I waited and waited and waited and paced and waited.

All this time I'm looking for his bright red Porsche 911 (which we still own) which is hard to miss in a small quaint downtown. No bright red car. We've now missed dinner and I'm starting to think maybe it was JERRY that was in a car accident and how would I know.  I called a good friend in Laguna, no, they hadn't heard from him.   And to top everything off, I realize I don't have an easy way home.

So I decide to walk to his classroom.  I figured maybe if he was in an accident he might have called the school from the hospital.  Maybe someone would be at the classroom to tell me what was going on.  So one mile in the dark later I got to his classroom, where I see his students exiting class (when they should have been entering).  For a split moment, I think "oh my god, he WAS in an accident".  And then, I see him.  Relief streamed in, followed quickly by a "What the hell are you doing here? and you better have a really good story mister"

He was equally relieved to see me and yes, he did have a good story.  As he drove from work in Newport Beach to the freeway, his clutch went out....bang....just like that.  So he pulled over to the side of the road, called AAA, and thought "how the hell am I going to reach Annette" (remember no cell phones).  Right about then our friend Susan drove by and saw his car and pulled over.

Jerry quickly brought her up to speed as to his romantic plight and she gamely gave him her green Datsun 240 Z and took over waiting for the AAA.  So Jerry drove up to Claremont only to find I was not at the restaurant.  Of course I wasn't, I was at the damn phone booth calling his office and our friends and watching for him to drive into town on the main road. (although I did eventually go back to the bistro, he was long gone). I was looking for a bright red 911 not a dark green datson 240 z.

So Jerry did the only thing he could do...he went to the classroom and cancelled class because he figured he was going to have to drive all over hell's half acre to find me (with the engagement ring burning a hole in his pocket).   And then, there I was.

The lovely little bistro was fully booked for Valentine's Day.  But in the spirit of the day and our adventure, they  took pity on us and gave us a cozy table and a great Chardonnay.  And so there with a little wine, lot's of relieved laughter, and a beautiful diamond,  the rest of our life began...together.

Happy Engagement Anniversary Honey.