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Not only was my 21st birthday an important legal milestone in my life, but it was also a day I will always remember-unlike most people. That's because it was...

That's because it was also the day my now-fiancé, Scott, decided to propose in the most romantic way. A few days prior, we'd made plans to go out for dinner and I'd agreed to meet him at his place, since he was just finishing college and didn't own a car at the time.

Scott, suavely dressed in slacks and tie (a rarity in Hawaii), took me to my favorite Italian restaurant, where over a delectable meal, I experienced ordering my first glass of wine. As we were finishing dessert, Scott whispered in my ear that he had planned a surprise for me. This, unlike many other proposal stories, is where the story begins, not ends.

Back in the car, we edged out of town as my curiosity and anxiety grew. Scott pulled in at beautiful, Sandy Beach on the south shore of Oahu, Hawaii—the site where he had first asked me to be his steady girlfriend. He pulled off his dress shoes, rolled up his slacks, loosened his tie, and pulled out kites and blankets he'd hid in the spare tire well of the trunk of my car several days prior. After flying kites for a while, we reeled them in and strolled along the shoreline, searching for a place to set a blanket and watch the stars.

Out of the wind, near a group of palm trees, Scott started to smooth the sand as his foot struck a rock. He bent over to toss it out of the way, but realized it wasn't a rock, but rather an old bottle. After examining it, he proceeded to show me that there was something inside. He pulled out the cork and contents, unraveling an old sun-warped map of Italy with a letter on the back.

"Dearest Jodie," he began to read—at this moment it hit me that he must have rode the bus—a half-day trip to this beach, earlier that day just to hide the bottle. I began to tear up. He continued to read his long, romantically sweet letter describing how we had grown together, and how special I was to him. "And so on this very special day, at this very special place, I have a very special question to ask my incredibly special girl," he recited as he bent down on a knee and pulled a small box from his pocket. "Will you marry me, Jodie Lynne," he asked with confidence, presenting me with a stunning solitaire.

By now the tears were streaming down my face and my knees buckling, but I managed to answer "Yes, of course," as I fell around his neck sobbing. We held each other and kissed, spending the evening listening to the waves crash over the shore and gazing at the stars as we imagined our lives together.