Saturday 15 May 1999, was my 25th birthday. My boyfriend, Simon, asked me what I was doing and I told him I planned to go out with the girls. He thought I might have a better night out going down to the town down the road where he works as a DJ in a nightclub called Martinis. I thought about it, but decided to go out in town. On my birthday, Simon tells me that there is a problem with my present and it won’t be here until Monday. Totally gutted, I stomp around for most of the day. What I wanted more than anything for my birthday was an engagement ring, but it looked like I wasn’t getting it. I moaned to my best friend Jen about it and also my mum when she took me to buy a dress for my big night out.So Saturday night came and the girls came round, we got drunk and listened to music and Simon went off to work. We talked about where we were going to go and someone mentioned about going to Barrow. So before we even got out the house, we had decided to go round town for a few, then into Barrow and to Martinis.We got to Martinis and got drinks and danced … then at 12.45am, the music stopped. Simon started talking over the microphone saying, “It’s someone’s birthday in here tonight. It’s my girlfriend Karen’s birthday. I’ve got a surprise for her and she has no idea. Come here, Karen.” So I got off the stage and walked over to the DJ Booth. He carried on telling everyone what was happening and to “bear with him”. Then he asked approximately 600 people what you would do for your girlfriend’s 25th birthday when you’ve been seeing each other for over four years. There were some responses, which I won’t repeat, then I saw it. A little box in his hand … He said, “Well, I’m gonna get down on one knee.” The whole place cheered. Then he said “Karen, will you marry me?”. The crowd erupted again. Then they all went wild when I said, “YES!” He put the ring on my finger – he chose it himself and got the size right!As the night progressed, I found out that my best friend’s mission on my birthday was to get me to Martinis – she had known about it all for a week! How did she keep a straight face? It was the best night of my life and I will never, ever forget it. We even got a write up about it in the local newspaper.
