ABSTRACT
I had been drawing a regular paycheck, enough to live on but nothing to brag about. So, I was periodically giving myself a small bonus at the end of the month, assuming it was in line with our monthly profit. The good news was the monthly bonus was becoming steadier-which was great because when I had popped the question during a surprise visit to my girlfriend in Spain, the answer was a big yes. The surprise visit to Spain was two fold: I partially wanted to astonish her, but it was also important that I do it on her turf and in her mother tongue. On the flight over I was busy digging through an English/Spanish dictionary trying to figure out the necessary words and put them into proper sentences. The Spanish woman sitting beside me asked if she could be of some help. I was a little embarrassed, but once I explained to her what I was attempting to do, she appeared to be so taken with the idea, she couldn’t do enough for me. I found it very strange practicing and repeating the phrase “will you marry me” with a complete stranger. Though prior to landing she told me that my pronunciation was fine and apparently it worked. Can you imagine what the others on the flight were thinking as I repeated over and over again “will you marry me”? Now, attaining a bit of financial stability and slowly developing a cross-trained workforce, the idea of marriage was feel-
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ing a little more comfortable from my working perspective. Maybe even a little time off for a honeymoon would be possible.
