We planned a trip to Hawaii with a few of our close friends. Prior to meeting our friends on the Big Island, we spent a few days in Maui just the two of us.

During our first day in Maui, Sam planned an extremely thoughtful and incredible day. The day started with coffee from a china set Sam ordered from the hotel we stayed at during our first trip together in Amsterdam. Throughout the day he had numerous surprises that were either from, or represented, our favorite dates and trips over the years. Sam had convinced Kim that even though he had planned this romantic day there would be no proposal as—in true Sam fashion—he didn’t realize how long it took to make a ring, and thus did not have an engagement ring.

When planning for the trip, Sam had asked Kim to find a place to watch the sunset near where we would be going for dinner, knowing that there was only one place near the restaurant. As we ventured down the cliff to see the sunset, Kim turned around and Sam was down on one knee.

The evening concluded with a private dinner overlooking the ocean. The waiter brought out cocktails in a teapot Sam had shipped from Soos—our favorite restaurant in Toronto. The last surprise of the evening was a bottle of champagne that Sam had engraved with the same message Kim had written inside the cover of a book and given to Sam the day they officially started dating.

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