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Contestant's Name: Lauren Entered on 6/27/2005 1:42:19 PM Ryan and I met while we both worked for Timex Corporation in Middlebury, CT. Ryan started working at Timex first, and I started a short time after him. However, our paths never crossed within the first six months of us both working there. He was in marketing and I in sales. Eventually, we had to attend the same meeting in Chicago. The morning of the meeting I was checking out of my hotel room and when I got on the elevator to go down to the lobby, Ryan was there! We spoke our very first words on that elevator and Ryan still believes it was love at first sight. Well, we began dating and almost 2 years after that day, Ryan was planning the most unbelievable proposal. In 2004, I had to attend the meeting, but this year Ryan did not. He booked a flight, arranged with my co-workers, and even the hotel manager to wait in that exact elevator until I got on to propose to me. I had no idea about any of this and did not even know that Ryan had purchased a ring. Unfortunately, the Friday before this business trip, Ryan and I went to visit some of my family in Vermont. That evening, in rural Vermont, Ryan and I were hit by a drunk driver. Our world forever changed. Ryan was taken to a local hospital and I had to be taken to a trama center an hour away. My injuries were numerous and much more severe. The doctors did not know if I would make it through the first night. I had multiple skull fractures, a puncture in my carotid artery causing internal bleeding, and I lost eye sight in my right eye. After days in ICU, then a week in a recap hospital, I would finally make it through the TOUGHEST ordeal of my life. Ryan's plan to propose obviously did not happen as I was still on the respirator on the day we were supposed to be in Chicago. On the anniversay of our first date, Ryan decided to take me back to the Big E, a huge fair in Springfield, MA. It was my first day out of the house since the accident. We walked around and Ryan asked me to go on the ferris wheel with him - just like we did 2 years ago. At the top of the ferris wheel, Ryan reached in his pocket and dropped to one knee. He said, "Two years ago you wanted to kiss me, well today, will you marry me?" I started crying, said YES, and was overcome with a happiness that the dark cloud of the accident could not touch. We have had a long road since then, and we are now planning for the best day of our lives. It will truly be a celebration of life, love, and marriage.