~ HOW SWEET IT IS TO BE LOVED BY YOU ~   Once upon a time not too long ago... he popped the question and she said "yes!"   A conversation with the engaged couple about how it happened... "It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving 2005 when we got engaged! I had no clue Al was planning to pop the question. We had spent Thanksgiving with my family at my sister's house and -" "I told Uthica that we'd have two Thanksgiving dinners - one at her sister's house on Thanksgiving and then we'd celebrate again on Saturday in Brooklyn." "On the way home from my sister's on Thanksgiving night, Al told me that he wanted to learn more about golf since he was going to a company outing and my Dad's a big golfer so Al said he was going to talk to him about it. It made perfect sense to me. When we got to my house, Al went downstairs to the den where my Dad was...and for a split second, I thought to myself, 'What if they're not talking about golf?'" "I took a golf magazine from the living room with me when I went to talk to Uthica's dad. He started talking about golf clubs and such before I got a chance to tell him what I really wanted to talk about! I asked him for his permission to marry his daughter...WHEW TALK ABOUT SCARY! I knew that would be harder then ACTUALLY proposing!" "I allowed myself to think that thought for only a SPLIT second before I started my Christmas shopping online. Al was downstairs for a while before he came back to the living room after the 'golf' talk with my Dad. It was late and he was working the following day so he went home." "Thankfully he said I was a good man and he gave me his blessing. We proceeded to talk for a while about many things...life, love, the past, present, and future...and also golf :) I told him I planned to do this on Saturday so please keep it secret. He wished me luck and I went back upstairs to say goodbye to Uthica and headed back home. "He picked me up on Saturday and we drove to Brooklyn like we had many times before." "I went shopping Saturday morning to prepare for a candle lit dinner at my house that eventful night. I also bought some dress clothes for the kids (our stuffed animals) who would be joining us for dinner. One of the kids was missing from the table (Baby Duckie)...this was part of the master plan! Because I had to pick up Uthica from Yonkers, I enlisted the help of my brother and mother, as waiter and chef, to prepare the food in time for our arrival to Brooklyn." "When I got to his house, I realized that Al and I were having dinner together, with the kids, but not with the rest of his family which was the norm. Something was definitely going on!" "Uthica saw all the kids dressed up and seated around the table and had a nice laugh! She asked about Baby Duckie's whereabouts and I said I didn't know...Baby Duckie had said something about having an important mission to do. Uthica and I had a drink of Grand Marnier...okay, I had about three! Then we began dinner." "The menu consisted of filet mignon, mushrooms, and wild rice...Al was drinking a lot of Grand Marnier..." "I told her that none of the kids knew where Baby Duckie was. There was an empty place setting on the table...where Baby Duckie would be...so Uthica went to investigate. She lifted the plate and found some clues to his whereabouts written on note paper." "I figured out what the clues meant and raced to Al's room. I found Baby Duckie in Al's sock drawer!" "Baby Duckie was hidden in a sock with the MAGIC EGG he had created! Inside the egg was -" "THE RING! I started to cry..." "I got down on one knee and asked for her hand in marriage, of course, I took the wrong hand! She corrected me and thankfully said YES! We then went downstairs to tell my mother and brother the good news. She then called her father and sister to share the good news as well." "And that's how we got engaged!"