Once Upon an Engagement...

...Joe and Michaela met in the ICU at Landstuhl. Michaela was applying for advanced nursing education through the Army and needed ICU experience to qualify for the program. On Michaela's off days, she would volunteer in the ICU working with the team that Joe was on. Michaela worked with various nurses as preceptors to provide oversight on critical patient care. One day, Joe noticed Michaela working on the unit and casually asked who she was, how long she'd been here, and what brought her to the ICU. He was very social, very attentive, and had honest eyes and a genuine smile. Many new nurses rotate through the ICU for shadowing experiences and it was generally assumed that Michaela was a brand new nurse to the hosptial. Joe recognized that Michaela was not brand new and was intruged by the motivation and determination that brought her in on her off days to work the ICU. Casual meetings turned into "friending" on facebook where they would talk occasionally but generally only saw each other in brief passing. Little did Michaela know, one day Joe saw Michaela approach him down a hallway and he thought, "Wow, a pretty girl." When he realized it was her, he said "hi", she said "hi", and as she passed, he waited for a few seconds and turned around to watch her disappear.

Soon after, Michaela was in the ICU again and was assigned to a patient with Joe as her preceptor. Michaela blushed with nerves about working with Joe for the first time. The patient was an incoming cardiac patient via CCATT (Critial Care Air Transport Team). They had a few hours before the plane landed to prepare-so they talked. Michaela embarassed Joe by calling him "sir". Once the patient came, they admitted him, started IV's, and told him what to expect while in the hospital. The patient was stable and tired so they closed the door and let him nap-and they talked some more. They talked and talked and talked for a 12 hour shift while sitting next to each other at the single computer. Her knee touched his knee...and lingered- It was chemistry.

Not long after that day in the ICU, Michaela took a day off on her day off and sent Joe an instant message on facebook. Joe was very excited that Michaela initited contact. Minutes later, Joe got a phone call that said "take a holiday and dont' come into work tomorrow." Michaela's response was, "Do you want to come over and play?" YES! Michaela and Joe went on their first date the very next day, March 24th, 2009.

Joe and Michaela have been inseperable since their first date except for a few times where one of them traveled to the states for the military. They knew very early on that they had something special and often talked about a future. Joe knew that if he was ever going to ask a woman to marry him, he was going to go to New York City, his favorite city in the world, and pick out the perfect ring. Michaela and Joe had visited Tiffany's in July so that Michaela could have breakfast at Tiffany's. After that, Joe knew that if Michaela were the one, it would have to be Tiffany's in New York.

From the beginning, Joe and Michaela knew that Michaela was to be deployed for 6 months and they had agreed it would be best overall if they waited until she was back before getting engaged. Michaela left Germany for a 17 day training exercise at Fort Hood and while she was gone Joe thought, "What am I waiting for?!" So, without a pass or leave or letting anyone else know what he was thinking, Joe looked for a ticket to fly to New York City on his two days off to go to Tiffany's. But, when he saw that the tickets were $2,900, had 1 or more layovers, and was on Air India, in combination with all the rules he was willing to break, he was disappointed and thought, "It's just not going to happen until she comes back." When Michaela got back to Germany for the holiays, Joe had planned a special overnight trip for the two of them. Michaela did not know where they were going or what they were going to do there.

The day of the trip arrived and Joe and Michaela walked down to the train station and hopped on an express train. Michaela guessed they were going to Paris but, having been to Paris a few times already that year, didn't know what new thing they were going to do. Joe indicated they were on a timeline and he had an address they needed to get to. Upon surfacing from the metro, they were on a busy shopping street. The storefronts were full of people gazing at the holiday windows still ablaze. Joe noticed they were by the Paris Opera house and suggested that they go to the front and eat the ham and cheese sandwhich they'd gotten on their way out of the train station. After finishing their sandwich, Joe took Michaela up the stairs of Opera House and said, "The real reason reason I took you to Paris is because I couldn't take you to Tiffany's in New York. I love you very much. I want to be your husband and I want you to be me wife. Will you marry me?" YES!! "There's a Tiffany's here in Paris, just down one of these streets, and all we have to do is find it."

Michaela and Joe walked from the Opera House down the Rue de la Paix to the doors of Tiffany & Co. and together picked the ring that promised their futures to each other. Together, they picked a classic solitaire with a round diamond. The Jeweler put it in the classic turquoise Tiffany box and tied it with a red holiday ribbon. Michaela & Joe celebrated with Champagne and a wonderful dinner at the Cafe de la Paix. Then they walked around the city at night hand in hand...