At least there was for Christopher Hertrich and it happened more than three years ago during an art gallery opening. It was there that he first laid eyes on Ritsuko Nakane from across the room, a woman who had moved to the U.S. seven years prior from Japan.
“I knew there was something special about her,” the 41-year-old Hertrich said on Tuesday. “There was just something about her.”
Hertrich, an art teacher at Crossroads School, followed his instincts, pursuing Nakane, who was 26 at the time. He says the first year of dating was nothing short of pure bliss, enjoying Nakane’s humor, her giving nature and the fact that she is a graphic artist.
The icing on the cake? Nakane is loved by his entire family, something that never happened with any of Hertrich’s ex-girlfriends.
“We’re a lot alike, even though we’re from different countries,” Hertrich said.
Three years later, Hertrich is ready to follow his instincts once more.
The couple visited Jack’s Jewelers on Santa Monica Boulevard to do something that many women enjoy — window shopping for engagement rings. After getting a good idea of what his girlfriend might like to wear on her ring finger some day, the couple left and went back to the same old.
“I was nervous for a while and I decided, what am I waiting for?” Hertrich said.
So he went back to the store recently and picked out what he believes is the perfect ring for his girlfriend, a ring that reflects her spirited and lovable personality.
But how to propose? First came the idea of buying Nakane several different gifts and presenting the ring last. He nixed that idea and then considered spelling out his proposal in a marquee at one of the theaters in Westwood Village, where the couple was supposed to have their first date.
But it wasn’t special enough. With a ring in his pocket and thoughts on how he would propose in the back of his mind, Hertrich left Jack’s Jewelers on Tuesday after rejecting a request from the Daily Press to tell his story about the process he was experiencing in proposing to his girl-friend. Then, it him.
He turned back to the Jack’s Jewelers, grabbed the number to the Daily Press and finally decided on the best way to express his love to Nakane: BOB GABRIEL INSURANCE
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 14, 2007. Read the original PDF.