For my birthday, my husband surprised me and at least two strangers.
It started when Todd asked me what I wanted for my birthday dinner. "Oh, I don't know. I haven't really thought about it." Todd handed me the iPad and said, "Maybe you can find something you like here." The tablet was open to the website of the best restaurant in the valley, a place we'd never been to because every time we'd wanted to go, there were no tables available, or we couldn't find a babysitter. "Our reservation is at 6:30 tonight."
The young couple seated at the table next to us was quiet and a little nervous, perhaps not entirely comfortable being alone together at this white-linen-tablecloths-spend-your-whole-paycheck-on-dinner restaurant. The two were dressed up for the occasion, though, and spoke softly and sparingly to each other over their meal. Todd and I smiled and nodded in greeting, and settled into our table.
As we were enjoying our first course, I saw Todd's eyebrows raise and he whispered, "I think he's proposing!" I glanced to my right just in time to see the young man on bended knee before his girlfriend, opening a ring box with shaky hands.
When the youth was seated back in his chair, Todd asked him, "Did you two just get engaged?" The young man held his breath, tense, until his new fiancé smiled and showed her ring. The boy visibly relaxed and nodded "yes!" We congratulated them, then turned back to our own table.
Todd and I discussed how nice it was to see that some traditions continue. We reminisced quietly about the day he proposed to me, nearly 22 years before, on the beach, on a lovely June afternoon. A twinkle caught Todd's eye, and he whispered to me, "Do you want to pay for their meal?" Without hesitating I nodded, and Todd called our waiter for a quick, discrete chat.
I'll never forget the look on that young man's face when he called for the check, and his waiter informed him that we had already paid their bill. For a split second, he wore a completed stunned expression, realizing he was the recipient of an unexpected act of kindness (an expression seen far too rarely, in my opinion). The couple thanked us heartily and left the restaurant giddy with plans for their future together.
Word quickly spread among the wait staff - not that someone had proposed marriage in their fancy restaurant, but that Todd and I had secretly paid for these strangers' special dinner. At the time, I didn't think it was a really big deal, but, over the course of the rest of the evening, one by one, each of the waiters caught my eye, smiled and nodded approval at us across the dining room. One stopped at our table to say, "That was so kind of you." Another told us, "That couple was ecstatic!" Yet another stated, "You have restored our faith in -- well, what you did was really cool."
As Todd and I strolled out of the restaurant arm-in-arm, I silently marveled how our small, spontaneous gesture of celebration and goodwill seemed to have made such a big impact, and how grateful I am that my husband, after 20 years of marriage, continues to surprise me with his generosity and romance. I truly wish upon that unnamed young couple a happy life together, and I hope that she is lucky enough to witness such thoughtful chivalry by her own husband someday.
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