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We met at his cousin's wedding in July 2003 and got engaged in January 2007. Howard and I, along with about 50 family members went to Kingston, Jamaica...

One day, we were driving to the house he was constructing in another part of Jamaica, and along the way he kept talking about marriage and asking what kind of wedding I would like, etc.

Once at the half-finished house, we toured around it, and then he got down on his knee and asked me if I would marry him (there was no ring or anything). I nonchalantly said yes, not thinking this was a preliminary to the real thing. He left me in Jamaica, and returned to our hometown of Dover, DE, where he called from everyday telling me that he'd been out looking for an engagement ring. He said it was so overwhelming with all the questions the jewelers were asking. I assured him to leave everything until I returned on January 8, 2007 and we would both go ring-hunting together – he agreed.

Howard met me at the airport on January 8, and we drove to my mother's home in Hempstead, NY. While there, my daughter called me from the bedroom saying Howard wanted me to take a picture with him. After being so tired and jet-lagged, I half-heartedly went into the living room where my daughter took a picture of us.

During the picture-taking he again asked me if I would marry him, and I again said yes (still not seeing a ring). Immediately after, I noticed him reach inside of his jacket pocket and take out a box which had a very beautiful engagement ring inside; he knelt and put the ring on my finger. I began crying and my daughter and mother were so very excited. That was the biggest surprise of my life, since I had expected to go ring-shopping with him. He bought the ring when I was still in Jamaica.