The perfect setting was found and now we were in search of the perfect stone.

I had not really thought much about diamonds. I just knew it is my birthstone, and there are the “4 Cs” – cut, clarity, color, carat. Before the search was on, I just thought size mattered. The bigger the rock, the better.

After looking at diamonds more closely, I started to understand the other Cs. It started to become clear to me that the cut and clarity are really important. At one store we went to, the sales lady even let me go outside with a couple of loose diamonds and see how they looked under natural sunlight. They looked fine (I suppose), but we decided to check out a few other places before settling on one.

We went to a different place and as soon as they pulled it out of the pouch, I pretty much knew it was the one that would complete my ring. It twinkled, even under the poor lighting in the store. And once I told my bf that it was the one, he said OK and proceeded with the purchasing process.

I remember taking a seat and thinking to myself, “Wow, this is really happening!” Apparently buying a diamond is like buying a car. I was there when my bf bought his car. And here he was again, and I was watching and waiting as this sale went down  (the only difference was I was in the distance this time). I couldn’t quite make out what was happening. There just seemed like a lot of back and forth, then finally paper being signed.

In my mind, I couldn’t believe that my bf was really doing this. I had always wondered who would marry me, let alone date me. I always felt like the ugly one of the bunch, like I had to pounce on the first guy who even looked my way. But here I was, many years later, watching my future husband taking another step closer to making our relationship to another level.