(Note: Sorry to be a little late with this. It's been a busy Spring as you will see!)

I'm not well-schooled in the kinds of gestures that sweep women off their feet. Angie knows this, and yet she's still with me after nearly four years of dating....

A few months ago, I started to get really excited about Star Wars: Episode III. I wanted nothing more than to see it with my best girl. I downloaded the theatrical trailer and played it over and over again. In fact, nearly every time she would visit me, I would have it in a Media Player window, awaiting my command to play again. At first, she teased me about it.

Angie was not interested in Star Wars movies when I met her. In the years I've known her, however, she started tolerating them. Before long, she actually started appreciating some of them. Then, finally, she gave in to the Dark Side and became nearly as excited as I was about seeing the final episode. Now that's love.

Anticipation mounted in the days leading up to our trip to the Old Nichols Theatre in Kansas City to see Episode III. We watched Episodes I and II in the week before. We had a few good-natured sparring sessions with our toy lightsabers. And we watched the theatrical trailer again.

The big day came, and Angie and I began our odyssey. We stopped to eat a light lunch along the way, and when we got back to the car, that's when she noticed the lightsabers in the door side compartments. I explained that there will be lots of people wearing costumes ... probably. It took a lot of convincing to get her to "think about" wearing it on her belt as we went to see the film. She told me afterward that she went round and round in her mind for the rest of the car ride whether she would wear it for me into the theatre. That turned out to work in my favor.

The rest of the car ride was filled with the regal sounds of the Star Wars soundtrack from my CD player. As we closed in on our destination, I couldn't help but think how much Angie had changed since I've known her. For all the geekiness of this trip, it was a date. We were going out to see a movie together. We were going to have a little adventure in the City. This trip had my "fingerprints" all over it. She must have made peace with the fact that I'm unusual a long time ago. Whatever motivates her to remain with me, I really love her for it. Conversely, our planned vacation to tour the lighthouses in South Carolina later this summer was something that she has always wanted to do. It never would have occurred to me to take such a trip before now. Now, I can't imagine not going to the ocean this summer with my best friend.

Of course, if she really thought about my unusualness on this day, I probably wouldn't have surprised her when, after arriving at the Plaza, we walked up to the people giving horse and carriage rides. After telling them I had a reservation, the next carriage started toward us. Angie has always wanted to go on a horse and carriage ride. She gave me a frantic look and patted me down looking for a ring box. Rolling my eyes, I helped her into the carriage and hopped in after her.

As we got underway on that late May evening, I taught Angie a valuable lesson. Rings don't always come in boxes. Sometimes they come in a small cloth drawstring bag, along with a marriage proposal.

When her delighted squeals calmed down, we enjoyed our ride and spent the rest of the evening enjoying the Plaza. There is no Old Nichols Theatre at the Plaza, by the way, and Episode III would wait for us until the next day. And, our South Carolina vacation transformed into a "destination wedding" and honeymoon.

So, for those of you who have been wondering, that's how it happened. That was my best attempt at being romantic.