How To Plan A Romantic Surprise...

I drove 4.5 hours back to my land of mist and drizzle (Hilton) this last weekend, all the time looking forward to having drinks that evening with two special friends, Anks and Zel, and a lovely family lunch the following day. It was always going to be a special weekend. And then Friday night happened and it was made even more epic and special.

I got home and had some champagne with my folks as I've recently become the proud owner of my little 2 bed-room flat. Then during dinner I got a call from a friend of a friend, Mike. Mike had called me to say that our friend, Willie, was half way to our misty village and I needed to make sure that his girlfriend, Anks, would bar hop with us to a place in town. But instead of going to the place in town, we would go down the hill, then up another hill to a nature reserve overlooking the lights of PMB.

After hearing a bit about the plan from Mike, I promptly messaged my friend Zel to tell her that I had invited Mike to drinks and would be on my way as soon as I had had a shower. I then got millions of messages back from Zel urging me to be as quick as I could, as she didn't know how much longer she last last with the deception.

After a quick shower, I dashed out the front door, calling goodbye to my very understanding folks, and made it to Crossways within a half hour of the call from Mike. Upon my arrival, I was greeted by a relaxed, unassuming Anks and an incredibly nervous and flustered Zel. Luckily Anks and I hadn't seen each other for a while, so we had a lot of catching up to do, which left Zel to calm her nerves. 

Mike joined us a little while later, and after a few drinks (somehow I ended up drinking half of Zel's drinks as well, don't ask me how!) we decided that now was the time to go to Frankies. But first we had to go and collect Mike's friend Mark from a braai at some nature reserve. While driving up the hill Mike kept complaining that his car was really battling and a little way after we had entered the nature reserve, he stopped the car and asked Anks to get out and change the tyre. As soon as both her feet were on the ground, Mike sped off, shutting the door as we made our getaway.

Mike, Zel and I drove a little way on and chilled together for a while, taking pictures and getting the champage and glasses ready, allowing Willie time to make his appearance to Anks. 

As Willie approached Anks, she started shouting at this strange man, until she realised it was Willie. The exact details and special time of the actual proposal are a special memory to be treasured by Anks and Willie, but by the time we arrived back, they were both smiling and Anks had a stunning ring on her finger. We had a heartwarming group hug to celebrate with them, and then we cracked out some champers to toast the newly-engaged couple.

While we were all looking over the lights of PMB, Willie imparted some Words of Wisdom to the rest of us.

"The secret to planning a surprise is not really         knowing yourself what the plan is for
the surprise - that way you'll surprise
even yourself."

And on that note, I want to wish Willie and Anks an incredibly blessed future together. It was such an honour to be part of your special evening - and I'm sure it will be an evening that will be recalled and reminisced about in the years to come as an one of mystery and surprise.