A Desert Proposal

by Big E
(Amarillo)

When I was being transferred between bases (while in the Army), I had stopped in my hometown to visit my family and see my sweetheart.

She was a little upset about the fact that I was going to have to leave town fairly quickly (to report to my next duty station).

The base I was going to didn't allow soldiers in training to have a vehicle with them, so I asked her if she would be willing to drive out with me and then take my car back to my parents house.

She agreed and we started out on our 500 mile road trip the next day.

I let her pick all of the music and all of the stops en route (I had three days to make it to base), and we just enjoyed spending time with each other.

We arrived at the base a day before I was required to be there, so we drove around a bit - kind of getting to know where everything was at.

While out driving we came across this little tree in the middle of a field.

It was really unique!

The tree was sitting on the bank of a little creek (which actually had water in it? in the middle of a desert?), but it proved to be the best spot on base.

Under the tree was a Historic marker talking about the 10th Cav (Buffalo Soldiers, and my wife is a bit of a history buff so we pulled over.

The scene was perfect.

We had been driving all day in the heat, and here we had shade and a nice creek to listen to.

There was also a little bit of a flower smell being carried on the breeze, so as we walked over to the marker I reached into my pocket and grabbed the ring.

Before we got to the marker, I stopped her, got down on my knee and proposed.

We never did read the marker, that was almost 17 years ago.