Luly and Sean

Posted Monday, December 08, 2008 10:36 AM

Through Delta Airlines, I was accepted into a division of the airline called the Disaster Relief Team. I was sent to New Orleans for Gustav and told Luly that I was being sent to Houston  after Hurricane Ike. That same week, she was to be in Philadelphia on business for her new job. For a week, I had the ring burning a hole in my pocket, and at the same time, I was telling her that I was most likely going to be sent to Houston. She left for Philly on a Monday and I had her totally convinced that I was bound for Texas on Tuesday or Wednesday. However, on Tuesday, I was at her parents' home asking for their blessing for this tremendous step we were both going to take. They gave the green light, and on Wednesday, I was on a plane bound for Philadelphia.
 
After a few extra hours in Atlanta that weren’t planned, I finally arrived in Philly. I embarked on the hour-and-five-minute journey by shuttle bus to the Sofitel that Luly was staying at. I was the first one on the bus and the last one off; it apparently stops at every hotel in Pennsylvania before the Sofitel. I called Luly when I got on the bus to tell her I was in "Houston" and that I was on the way to the hotel Delta was putting me up in. She sounded dangerously drowsy when I called her, so the clock was ticking, and I couldn't wait another minute to give her this ring!

I eventually arrived at the Sofitel, which can also be described as San Quentin. Allow me to explain. I arrived at the front desk and told the ladies why I was there and what I planned to do. They had the typical female reaction of "Oh my gooooddddd, how romantic!" So I figured I was in. Not the case! They promptly called security, which was there in about 30 seconds. A rather portly man in a sharp three-piece suit with a nametag and Secret Service-esque earpiece was now in front of me asking for my ID. I gave it to him and he was about to call Luly upstairs. I told him I was surprising her and please not do it. He proceeded to regurgitate the Sofitel security manual to me regarding unexpected guests. I told him I understood he had a job to do and it was comforting to know that if she was ever in Philly again for work, she was staying in a secure hotel. I thought with the schmoozing he’d cut me some slack, but he didn’t. So I had to make the phone call to her room and tell her to come "claim" me in the lobby. She didn't believe that I was in the lobby, and it took some convincing, but she eventually came down. So I hung out in the lobby for what felt like an eternity with Clay and Lewis, the security guys, until she came off the elevator. Once they saw I wasn’t a "threat," I went upstairs with my soon-to-be fiance to drop off my bags.
 
A few minutes later, we came back downstairs and walked around the immediate area of her hotel to check out what was going on in downtown Philly. We headed back to the hotel and sat down in a lounge area by the lobby. Now when I say “lounge area,” I don't want anyone to think of the lounge area in a Howard Johnson or Motel 6. This hotel ranks in the top three hotels I’ve ever been in, both here in the US and abroad. It was very nice and perfect for what I was about to do. We sat down at a small table for two that was kind of secluded from other people. I ordered a Cuba Libra (rum and coke) for me and water for Luly, which is pretty standard for her on a work night. Luly proceeded to tell me in extreme detail about the first three days of work in Philadelphia. Needless to say, my mind was focused on other things, and I was really not absorbing a word of what she was saying. I took off my jacket. Thirty seconds later, I put it back on and excused myself to go to the men's room. While there, I transferred the ring from my pants pocket to my jacket pocket to make the pulling out and opening of the box a more fluid motion.
 
I got back to the table and Luly asked me, "Did you lie to my parents also and said you were going to Houston?" I replied, "No, I didn't lie. I told them I was coming to Philly to ask you to be my wife." She then gazed at me through her thick-framed glasses as if what I said was complete gibberish. I reached into my jacket pocket, pulled out the ring box, and opened it while simultaneously getting down on one knee. I then asked, "Will you marry me?" Once what I was doing registered with her, she responded, "Are you serious? Of course!" A few other people who were around us yelled out, "Did she say yes?!" I didn’t really hear an actual yes, so I looked at her again, and she said the one word that has made me the happiest man in the world: YES!