At the ripe ol' age of 24 in 1994, I was beginning to feel the burnout of doing the road. I imagine that this year, I spent over half of the days of the 365 traveling to such hot spots as Rifle, Wyoming; Sioux City, Iowa; Petoskey, Michigan, and a bevvy of other comedy hotbeds.

Dara and I hit some hard times this year, and it'd be a flat-out lie to say that my being away so much didn't have something to do with it. So, in mid-November, I hit the road on a 4 week tour with my friend Huck Flynn (sweet tie, huh?) and decided that we'd see where we stood when I returned.

Dara headed to Nashville a week before Christmas whilst I was traversing the highways of Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Wyoming, and I was to meet her there on the 27th. When I arrived, the emotions were palpable and undeniable: We'd missed the living crap out of each other.

She informed me that, while we'd be spending the night at her parents' place that night, the following afternoon, we were heading out to a small cabin in the woods of central Tennessee. When we arrived at the picture-perfect setting in the hills, we set ourselves up in the one room cabin, poured some wine, and began to spill our guts.

Then "it" happened.

Dara began telling me that she needed to move back to Nashville for awhile as her mother's condition was worsening. My heart sank, but I knew it was a necessary move to make. Then, she looked at me, batting those big, hazel eyes and said, "I need to move, but I want you to come with me. And if you come with me, I want us to make the promise that our relationship is permanent. I'm ready to make that commitment to you."

I remember the room shifting, like reality had been altered. Everything looked and smelled different.

So in that tiny cabin, surrounded by trees and animals, Dara Modglin proposed to me, my answer, if it was to be "yes", was to propose back to her when I felt it was right.