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Jamal met Patrice during the annual field exercise and readiness training drill in 2001. All of the military personnel on the base were assembling on the General Mitchell T. Richardson's parade field on a rainy October morning. The sky released buckets of precipitation the entire first day and part of the next.

Jamal spotted Patrice as she gracefully exited a camouflaged Humvee on the first day. She was placing her long jet-black hair in a bun and wore the traditional Army issued fatigues under her open army green rain poncho. Jamal noticed how the uniform appeared tailor made as it tightly outlined the curves of her thick Afro-American frame.

Patrice was a wonderful person. She grew up in Marion Junction and knew of Jamal from school. She attended Marion Junction high school. Patrice was on the track team in high school and joined the military right after high school like Jamal. However, she completed her basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. She was then stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas where she became a medical laboratory specialist. At Fort Hope, Louisiana, she was attached to the 41^st Medical Battalion and worked at the General Andrew T. Hope Memorial Hospital on the base and ran one of the fastest miles on base.

It was true love at first sight. Jamal was captivated by Patrice's exceptional beauty. His eyes followed the attractive Patrice to her position in the formation. Right after the companies were dismissed from formation, he hastily pursued after her and asked her out on a date. On their first date, the couple drove Patrice's black and gray 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix to New Orleans for dinner and a jazz concert. Over the next year and a half, Patrice quickly became an intimate part of Jamal's home life. She even shared his unusual love for antique furniture. They were a perfect couple.

After the couple finished unloading the Ford, Jamal entered the large kitchen to prepare a very tasty dinner for his girlfriend. He took an empty slate blue platter out the backdoor to the wooden gazebo in the flower garden. The smell of the fresh seasoned salmon cooking on the hot smoky grill drifted up to Jamal's nostrils. Patrice was relaxing on the plaid cushions of the lounger in the gazebo. She glanced over at Bear and Benjamin, Jamal's two red Pit bull -Rottweiler mix dogs, as they lazily lounged on the shaded floor of the gazebo.

‘Hey, Jamal, will you pour me some more wine, please,' she inquired. Patrice picked up her clear long stemmed wine goblet from the floor and passed it to Jamal's extended hand.

‘Sure, but only a little bit more. Dinner is just about ready. I am just waiting on the fish and the cornbread to finish cooking. It will not be much longer.' he replied.

Patrice never felt as comfortable anywhere as she did with Jamal. It was a nice steamy summer afternoon. She was entertained by an occasional visit from the rabbits, ducks, and squirrels that roamed throughout the property. Jamal's black cellphone vibrated on the fabric of the lounger beside Patrice. Reluctantly, she handed the black telephone to him.

‘Hello, Jamal speaking,' he said after he placed the telephone to his left ear. The conversation was short, quick and to the point. The captain wanted to see him in the morning. Jamal hung up the black cellphone and continued to cook.

‘Ok, are you going to tell me who it was? You are not leaving right now are you?' inquired Patrice.

‘No and no,' Jamal replied with his patented half smile. He walked over to her and gently kissed her lips. ‘Anyway dinner is ready. Let's eat.' Jamal easily picked Patrice up in his powerful muscular arms and carried her delicate frame over the threshold of the house. As he looked deeply into her green eyes, he could imagine her as his wife. He gently placed her in the waiting chair in the dining room and returned to the grill outside

The meal consisted of a mouth-watering grilled salmon stuffed with baby red onions and a garlic clove, grilled butter squash, cornbread, a tossed garden salad and a delicious baked sweet potato pie. He took the mouth-watering grilled salmon and carefully placed it on the serving platter. Then Jamal returned to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.

After Jamal placed her on the chair, Patrice noticed how beautifully formal he had arranged the table. The ivory-white "Heinrick" dinner plates and the crystal long stemmed Waterford wineglasses were perfectly arranged. ‘He never uses this stuff,' she thought to herself and reached to retrieve her napkin. She slid the napkin ring off the rolled up napkin and noticed something falling out of the unrolling napkin. ‘It is a ring,' she said aloud as tears welled up in her eyes. Just then, she heard Jamal enter the kitchen from the backdoor.

Patrice excitedly screamed, ‘Jamal!' She hurriedly jumped up from the table and bolted into the kitchen. ‘Jamal, I love you!' she exclaimed while wrapping her arms around his neck.

‘What's wrong, honey?' he tenderly questioned.

‘The answer is YES,' she loudly cried out.

‘Okay, then what was the question?' he asked.

‘The rings that were in my napkin fool! What do you think the question is?' she smartly replied showing him the rings in her hand.

‘Oh, that. I was going to wait until later but okay,' Jamal took the rings from her hand.

The antique-style 3-Stone 18k white gold 1.6 cts. diamond engagement ring had an elegant twisted rope designed matching wedding band. The antique style diamond ring set was an expensive classic reproduction. Jamal gently took Patrice slender hand and quickly kneeled on one knee.

His dark eyes stared passionately into her green eyes. "Patrice, well, uh, I ... no. We.' He stopped to gather his thoughts. This was harder than he thought it would be; nevertheless, he went on anyway. He said ‘Okay, Patrice, I will make it simple. I love you. Every moment I am out in the field, I am thinking about you. When I am caught up in messed up situations, I can only think about getting back home safe to you. I want to hear your heartbeat softly as I doze off to sleep. I want to look in your beautiful eyes when I get old. I just want to lie in your arms for the rest of my life. Patrice, I am just trying to say will you give me the honor of being my wife.'

By this time, tears was streaming down her face as she shook her head and cried, ‘Yes! Jamal, yes, yes!'

Copyright 2007 Reginald Levi Walker
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