It was a Friday night, April 1, 2011.  I came home from work.  John was there, in my bedroom.  After we said hello, he started talking about going to Louie & Johnnie's (one of our favorite restaurants in Yonkers) for dinner on Sunday.  I didn't understand why he was talking about Sunday dinner when we hadn't even had Friday dinner yet.  He was acting kind of weird.  I guess he was a little nervous.

I sat down on the side of the bed.  Within ten minutes of me being home, he got down on one knee, pulled out the box with the ring and asked for my hand in marriage.  I thought he was kidding.  After all, it was April 1.

I never thought someone could truly surprise me and catch me off my guard, but he did.

I sat there, wanting to shout 'YES!' but I was so stunned.  I won't tell you my exact response, but I did say yes.  I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, but I just couldn't get the word out.

I eventually said yes -- and with that, he put the engagement ring on my finger.  It's an evening that I'll never forget.

I found out later that night that John had originally planned on proposing on Sunday (April 3) at Louie & Johnnie's Restaurant (that's why he was talking about going there for Sunday dinner), but then was talked into proposing to me by Glen Miller at a show on Saturday, April 2, at The Spotlite Cafe, but John couldn't wait and proposed on Friday, April 1.

As I mentioned previously, we met at The Spotlite Cafe.  When Glen found out that John was going to propose to me that weekend, he convinced John to propose to me at The Spotlite on Saturday, April 2, at a show.  After all, that's where it all began.  Glen put John on the show for that night.  I had to give my ring back to John :(  We didn't want anyone to know that he had already proposed the night before because those who knew that he was going to propose (the owner and employees at The Spotlite) were all excited.  It was the first proposal ever at The Spotlite.  They had someone there to take pictures, it was being videotaped and it was being simulcasted live in France on a radio show.  John did almost 10 minutes and then called me up on stage, got down on one knee and proposed (again).

Roz was sure that I still owed a decent amount on the ring, but unbeknownced to her, I had already bought it.  So on April 1, 2011, I proposed to her at her house.  She was completely flabbergasted.  I ended up doing it again the next night from the stage in the club where we met for the benefit of all our friends that were there.