One reason a day…and then one reason each weekday. Then I got a reason on the weekends again…and then just weekdays again. All the while, I forced myself not to count or look at the calendar to figure out what the date or even approximate date of when the 100 reasons would end. I wanted to be surprised. So, I just let myself revel in hearing one thing (almost) every day that Daniel loved/admired/appreciated/respected about me.

It was a Thursday in late September while Daniel was telling me goodnight at my car that he very gently explained that we were getting close to the end of the 100 reasons. He added that we would have to spread the last few reasons out. I sighed and accepted that I would still have to wait for the proposal and that there would be long stretches between the next set of reasons. Given that my birthday and our anniversary were less than a week away, I had no reason to doubt this. (I had told Daniel long before that I did not want a proposal on Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, my birthday, or an anniversary.)

Meanwhile, my parents e-mailed Daniel and me to plan dinner together on that Saturday since it would be the closest weekend to my birthday. Behind the scenes, Daniel began writing an e-mail back to my parents asking them to reschedule. Halfway through writing it, though, he stopped and hit discard. He decided to change his own plan.