It was the summer of 2000. I had a full-time job and was living with my parents, so I had a fair amount of disposable income to spend on gadgets. So I picked up one of these:

A Handspring Visor Deluxe (Palm OS based PDA). I was a busy young man, and this was just the thing to keep my schedule and all of my phone numbers straight. I was excited to show it to the girlfriend, who was just back in town after finishing up grad school. As you might expect any loving girlfriend to do, she immediately went to the address book section to scan the names (love ya honey!). She found her own entry, listed in the category of "friends."

"We've been dating for 4 years, and I still get classified as a 'friend'?" she joked.

"Well, I'd imagine it would be more concerning for me to have a section for 'girlfriends'."

"True."
_____________

Fast forward to February 2001. It was a fairly non-descript Saturday evening. After talking with the girlfriend, we decided to get some takeout and have a quiet night at home. And by "at home," I mean "at my parents' house." I went over to Applebee's to pick up our food. A cowboy burger (very well done) and potato skins. Tasty. A buddy of mine was working at Applebee's at the time, he brought my order out.

"Omar, you OK? You look... nervous."

"I'm going home and then I'm gonna ask the girlfriend to marry me!"

It was apparently obvious that I was ready to burst. I blurted the words out before I had a chance to think about what I was saying. He was the first person I had told of my plans. I had not intended to tell anyone, on the off chance that she declined. And if I was intending to tell someone, it probably wouldn't have been him. No offense.

"Hey, that's great! Congrats!"

"Don't congratulate me yet," I nervously replied. "Hopefully, you can congratulate me tomorrow."

[stay tuned for Part II]