Love and Marriage - Part Two

Perhaps as we are on the topic of love and marriage, I will take this opportunity to share my own personal story of my engagement. Some of you may already know the story, but others may be interested to know the details of what happened.

It was the month of February 2006, and a friend of mine, Susie Kim, suggested that we have a Girls’ Day Out sometime in the next few weeks. I was in my fourth year of medical school in the middle of a rotation – my sub-internship in Internal Medicine – at a notoriously busy hospital in Riverside County. So I checked my trusted PDA – a refurbished Tungsten E Palm that I had purchased on eBay two years earlier – and finally found a good post-call day, the 19th of February, in which to hang out with “the girls.” We decided to go shopping and then to have dinner at the Mission Inn, an elegant and historic landmark hotel in Riverside established in 1902. As February 19 coincided with another friend’s (Kar-Yee Yung’s) birthday, I simply assumed that the dinner would be a surprise celebration for her. I waited with eager anticipation for that day. I even called my friend and classmate, Eunice Lee, to see if she was going to be able to join us for shopping, but she said that she could just meet us for dinner.

Sunday, the 19th of February came, and I was finally excused by my interns (Viki Hsu and Sunnie Lee) and released from the bondage of the hospital. We had finished rounding somewhat earlier than anticipated, because our patient census was quite low (I tend to be a “white cloud” on call days, I am told). So I gave my boyfriend, Paul Yoo, a call and asked him if he wanted to hang out for a little bit before I went to meet the girls. To my disappointment, he told me that he was really immersed in his studies at that moment and that it was not the best time to meet. I had always tried to be supportive and protective of his study time, as Dental School has not been a “walk in the park” for Paul, so I told him that I understood and that we could meet up the following day on my day off.

A few hours later I went to Susie’s house to meet the girls. I had assumed that there would be many girls coming out with us, but to my surprise it ended up just being Susie, Kar-Yee, and me. We spent some time shopping at Ontario Mills, and my only significant purchase was an arm band iPod holder, which I needed because I was training for the Los Angeles Marathon (March 19, 2006). We were supposed to meet the others for dinner at 5 o’clock in the evening, but we were already running behind (funny how time flies when one is shopping). I could hear Susie talking on the phone with her husband, Eli, telling him we would be arriving soon.

When we got to the Mission Inn, Susie began a full on sprint toward the building in her ever-stylish heels. Kar-Yee and I worked to keep up with her as she weaved through the Spanish style architecture and up four flights of narrow spiral stairways to the roof of the building. Fortunately for me, I was in the best shape I had ever been because of my months of training for the marathon; otherwise, I probably would have experienced a syncopal episode with all the exertion and excitement. The entire time Susie was leading Kar-Yee and me through the Mission Inn, she was secretively talking to her husband Eli on the phone. She was acting quite suspicious, and I thought to myself, “Susie is making this WAY too obvious…Kar-Yee is going to figure out that we are planning a surprise birthday party for her!” When we were finally on the roof, in the corner of my eye I saw two familiar faces – those of Eli and Paul!!! They were bent over behind some stone structures, and it looked like they were lighting some candles (Kar-Yee’s birthday cake, I assumed). I instinctively waved at them, happy to have finally found them after the work-out of sprinting up the staircases, but then I realized that perhaps they were still working on the surprise. I halted my voice in the middle of my “Hi,” and quickly put my hand down. Had Kar-Yee seen them? I thought to myself, “Man, I really messed it up this time!”

Susie awkwardly suggested, “Ummm…why don’t we…take pictures together here on this side of the roof?” It was obvious that she was stalling for time! After the photos, we decided to investigate the bell tower that was on the roof. I had a strong desire to explore and see if we could climb up to the top of the tower. But then I realized that Paul and Eli were probably still there on that side of the roof! I looked carefully at Susie, understanding that she would probably give me “the look” if she wanted to give the boys a little more time to prepare, but she eagerly joined in and said, “Yeah, let’s go check out that tower!” Relieved, I began to walk toward the tower.

Suddenly, I sensed that Susie and Kar-Yee were no longer walking next to me. I looked back and noticed that they had fallen behind and were watching me. Confused, I beckoned for them to come with me. They motioned with their hands for me to continue on. I noticed that there was a picturesque hallway, covered with vines overhead, leading to the tower, and I also noticed a few rose petals on the ground at the entrance of the outdoor hallway. Still thinking that this was part of Kar-Yee’s surprise party, I looked back again and asked Kar to come instead. They insisted that I walk forward alone.

Then, I realized what was happening. I saw Paul standing at the end of the short hallway, which was covered with red rose petals and lined with candles along the side. He was standing there with a single rose in his hand. My heart started to pound as I walked toward him. He proceeded to get down on his knee, clasp my hands in his, and say, “It is not good for Man to be alone,…” Everything was a blur after that; I honestly do not remember the rest of the speech. My sentimentalism took ahold of me once again, and tears began to well up in my eyes. Paul gave me the long-stemmed red rose and placed my engagement watch on my left wrist. He proceeded to ask me if I would spend the rest of my life with him, but I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I was speechless. He must have asked me a second time, and I finally was able to nod and say, “Yes.” This entire time, Eli was attempting to capture the moment on video with his digital camera, but it was difficult in the dark as the sun had already set some time earlier. Susie and Kar-Yee snapped away with their digital cameras, and then we headed down to the restaurant below to meet the others for dinner. Many of our friends came out to join us at dinner and celebrate our new engagement with us at the Mission Inn. It truly was a memorable and beautiful experience.

Paul celebrating his victory

Paul and Janie, newly engaged