Articles by Sara

In just twenty-five days Catherine Elizabeth Middleton will join the royal family and become a duchess. Already a fashion icon and a focal point for many magazine headlines it will be exciting to see her transcend into her new title.

Victoria, BC is well known as a destination steeped in British tradition and charm, and fittingly, is all a buzz about the upcoming Royal Wedding. In celebration of William and Kate’s nuptials, hop aboard the Victoria Clipper bound for Victoria, BC for a stay at the Fairmont Empress. The Fairmont Empress has planned many activities to coincide with the upcoming nuptials. You can attend their Rise and Shine with the Royal Family breakfast event to watch the Royal Wedding LIVE on flat screen televisions in the hotel’s The Empress Room along with breakfast served from 3am-11am. Feel free to wear your Fairmont robe and pajamas and enjoy a late checkout.

At Clipper Vacations we wanted to do something celebratory as well. We sponsored the Royal Wedding Proposal Essay Contest during the month of March and now we get to announce the winner! There were many great essays and we want to thank everyone who participated.

We selected the essay titled “Thanksgiving”, by Alan, but unfortunately he was unable to accept the prize, so we wanted to give him an honorable mention. You can read his essay below.

The prize went to the runner up who told a lovely story about very surprising proposal! The winner of the prize is Katrina for her essay “Proposal In The Teachers Lounge”. Congratulations!!! Katrina and her husband will be whisked away on the Victoria Clipper on April 28th for an overnight package at the Fairmont Empress to attend the Royal Wedding Rise and Shine Breakfast.

Here are both essays:

Proposal In The Teachers Lounge
I was a 1st year teacher at an elementary school and during the year I found myself falling in love with Brian, one of the 6th grade teachers. We knew it was not a good idea to let the students or staff know we were dating, so kept it secret and only went on dates out of town.

At the end of February I told him we should have a secret date and sit together for lunch the next day in the teachers lounge. I was amazed at how many staff were there (they had been told they would want to be there, but not told why and I knew nothing about it). After we sat down next to each other and started eating, in walks one of the staff with a big bouquet of flowers and hands it to me. That got the attention of everyone and as I opened the card one of the teachers anxiously asked, “What does it say?” I started reading, “Katrina, just wondering…” I immediately stopped reading because I was caught off guard and didn’t know if I should keep reading out loud, so I cried out, “I can’t read this!” and handed it to Brian.

As if catching a hot potato he quickly replies, “I’m not going to read this,” and hands it off to the vice principal who is known for his public speaking talents. He began read with confidence, “Katrina, just wondering…I can’t read this!” and hands it back to me, in which case I couldn’t hold it in any longer, take a deep breath and bravely finished, “…just wondering, will you marry me? Brian.” The room went dead silent as everyone was trying to process what just happened, until someone broke the ice, “Well???”

My answer…“Yes!” The secret was out and the rest of the day was filled with excited chatter as everyone shared stories about how they either suspected something or were totally shocked, but so excited about the news. I can’t begin to tell you how hard it was to concentrate on teaching my 3rd grade students the rest of the day, but somehow I managed. The entire staff, our students and their families were invited to share in that special day of union 4 months later on June 29th, 1987.

Thanksgiving
I went to visit Dawn for Thanksgiving, which, in Victoria, is called “Thursday.” She’s a Can-Am, she tells me, with dual citizenship, which I suppose is preferable to duel citizenship, that being the fate of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

Dawn and I are not kids. We’re not ancient either, unless you ask my pre-teen daughter. But really, we’re not ancient. Ask anyone. But we’ve both been around the block, up the street, across the desert, athwart the lake, over the river, and through the woods. But there’s something about her that’s quite young, extraordinarily vibrant, and she carries with her a purpose for this man’s reinvention.

Anyway, we were in Victoria as I had just Clippered over to see her. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, which in Canada is actually not “Black” as it is in the States, but instead a rather ordinary Friday, she wanted to take me to dinner and to see a play at the University of Victoria. The play was called “Yerma” by Lorca and as a theater buff, I knew it would be akin to a telenovela, a Mexican television soap opera. Much tormenta y impulso, which translates loosely to sturm und drang.

The play started at 8, but for some reason we had to get to dinner by 5:45. I kept asking why, and she said that that’s when the reservation was. Which made little sense to me, but I went with it.

We left the house, which was 10 minutes from the restaurant, at 5:35. We arrived at the restaurant at 5:36 or so. My hair was sticking straight back and I was in a constant state of inhalation until we parked. Then I palely exhaled.

I was drinking a glass of wine, looking at the lovely art, and studying the amazing menu as they brought us bread and butter. Dawn dropped her napkin on the floor and got down there under the table to pick it up. She was down there a long time. I looked under my menu at her with her reading glasses down at the end of my nose and said, “What are you doing? Get up from there. It’s filthy under there.” Just then, I noticed that she was nervously perched on both knees (not just one, but both) and looked up at me with a hopeful face and asked, “Alan, will you marry me?” I must have looked a little shocked, because she then said, “I’m not kidding. This is the real thing.” I blinked a couple of times and finally got my brain to send the message to my diaphragm to pump air through my larynx and form my mouth into the following words, “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” Best decision I ever made.

The play was horrible, by the way. But we smiled all the way through it. And the smiles have not let up. I love this woman and she loves me and it’s all good. I give thanks for her every day.