(click on picture for larger view)

A picture of us and the manager (what's that on Laura's left hand?)

Picture of us taken by the waiter  (note to self adjust camera brightness)

Picture taken by me (after adjusting brightness).

Have you ever seen such a broad smile?

The ring.

The center stone is from my family.  The other two and the ring were added by a custom jeweler. 

It almost wasn't a surprise.  Laura had three inadvertent clues.  1) She found a ring box in my jacket pocket a week before and thankfully didn't look in it.  2) I had gotten the appraisal and insurance papers mixed up with the list of places to eat in Paris.  She said; "What's this?" and I quickly whisked them away from her, making up a story about accidentally picking up my mother's jewelry info from the printer along with the restaurant info.  3) I was keeping my shaving kit in the safe at the hotel room.  Fortunately, it never crossed her mind.

From an issue of Gourmet Magazine May 2001.