It started with that first kiss, and your slight smile afterward — oh so clever. You melted my heart with your kiss, our kiss — my first kiss ever. Something sacred happened there, even if only I knew it. It was such a pure and sweet an tender moment. Picture perfect, as they say. And in my dreams, I wanted to keep it that way.

I wanted to respect that moment — to honor all it meant to me. I didn’t want to waste that special place in my memory. So I made a pact with myself to always be true to what happen there to me, and to you. Regardless of whether we stayed or we left, I would treat this time of “us” so there would be nothing to regret. A lofty goal, I know, and maybe too ideal, but that first kiss and everything after — in my mind that’s what’s real.

And now, you’re kneeling here before me, with my heart in your hand (alongside that ring), and all I can think is that you too want to respect that first special moment with me.