Daniel

Daniel

Daniel on Daniel….

As an MK, I had the privilege of growing up overseas in West Africa. I was born in Ferkessédougou, Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. I attended a boarding school for 10 years of my education, while the other two years I attended schools in the states during furloughs. I have lived in a number of different places, but call Africa my home. I hope to return to visit many times in the next decades of my life, but was VERY excited to get to return with my darling Princess Rachel.

I have a degree in Pastoral Ministries and recently I finished another degree in Radio and Broadcasting. I'm the technical producer for a radio station in downtown Chicago. Favorite fruit is the Mango. :) Favorite instrument....the djembe.

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Daniel on “The Engagement”...

During the summer of 2003, I had been able to find some tickets to visit the UK for about 3 weeks. I had been looking for rings since the last time I had visited Rachel on my spring break in 2003, and finally found THE ring. I informed and asked Rachel’s parents for her hand in marriage and received a welcome “yes”. Rachel of course had no clue that all this was going on, and I had no intention of telling her parents where and when and how i was going to go about this “asking”. Later we found out that Rachel’s Mum kept wondering each time we went somewhere – (like the Giant’s Causeway) if this would be the moment… but she was very good at keeping the secret!

After a week of being in Northern Ireland, we had the pleasure of visiting Paris, France, for several days. We went just about everywhere, and were able to see Disneyland, the Louvre, Champs Elyses, Notre Dame and many, many other sites.

But… the best and most romantic visit took place on the night of the 2nd of August. This, incidently was exactly a year after we first got together – one starry evening on Canoa Beach on Ecuador’s Coast (Aug 2nd 2002).

We visited a very fancy restaurant that evening, enjoying a wonderful 3 course meal. Having eaten, we then took a romantic walk to the Eiffel Tower as the sun was just beginning to set. Once we arrived at the top, we saw an even more beautiful site as the buildings lay far below us and the sun had just slipped below the horizon. The city was bathed in a dark robe of black with stars and a big, silver moon overhead.

I had memorized Rachel’s favorite Shakesperian sonnet (#116) and after having been up there for about 10 minutes, finally worked up the nerve to quote it to her.

The sonnet really set the mood and I could tell that she enjoyed it, so that was a good thing. Warming myself up to ask her the big question…..took a bit more time however!

As we sat in silence enjoying the view of the city, I said, “Rachel, i have a small surprise for you, but you have to close your eyes.” She looked at me with a question in her eyes and said, “okay”. I got the ring out of my pocket, adjusted it so that it was sitting perfectly in the box, and said,

“Okay, now you can look”.

And then i asked her softly, “Rachel? Will you marry me?”

At which point she just kind of looked stunned….and smiled!”

Then she gave me a big hug and said, “Thank you for asking me in such a romantic place. ” I explained I had picked a “princess cut” diamond for my “princess.” Rachel loved it – it was delicate and elegant on her finger.

The next morning began our last day in Paris. We celebrated that day, taking pictures in the park by the Eiffel Tower, and walking about Paris in love. We hardly wanted to leave!

That, folks, is how the love of my life and I got engaged!

Up-to-Date News….

We were wed on Monday, August 2nd 2004… exactly two years after we first got together…and one year after Daniel proposed on top of the Eiffel Tower. Marriage, we find far exceeds our expectations, for we find each other such a perfect match, and our almost 4 1/2 years of marriage have been incredibly blissful. People are so negative about marriage… we are so thankful to have found ourselves to be such a good “unit.”