LOVE STORIES
Surprise, Marc Yamane! This one's for you
By Tanya Bricking Leach
Advertiser Staff Writer
This morning at the Halekulani hotel, newlywed Edel Yamane has arranged for a newspaper to be specially delivered.
Allen Martin Photography
With any luck, her husband will be paying attention.
Edel Nakagawa and Marc Yamane married yesterday at the Halekulani. The new Mrs. Yamane hopes to surprise her husband with this story.
On her first day as Mrs. Yamane, she wants to surprise him with this little love story, because Marc Yamane has always been the one surprising her.
The first unexpected gesture came shortly after their first date at Mediterraneo Italian Restaurant on King Street, where Edel Nakagawa and Marc Yamane talked as if they had known each other for years. She knew right away the connection was something special when he e-mailed her a poem he wrote titled "Conversation" about how easy it was to talk to her.
The relationship took off from there.
Yamane, a 44-year-old elevator repairman from Kalihi, revealed himself as a lyricist and romantic as well.
His family knew he was in love "when he started cleaning up his act," said his younger sister, Ann Yamane.
"He changed his image from T-shirts and just became a little more stylish. He wanted to impress her," she said. "He's a softie, you know? He looks rough on the outside, but he's more of a softie than his sisters."
The Mr. Romance role worked. Edel, the former Ms. Nakagawa, a 43-year-old teacher from Kane'ohe, finds it no coincidence that his birthday is Valentine's Day.
"I call him my Renaissance man," she said. "He does stuff like what you would see on TV" — like roses and dinner by candlelight.
And surprises.
His most elaborate scheme involved setting up a getaway to San Francisco in May.
He told her he was going on a trip, but actually, he had arranged to take her on one for her birthday.
He coordinated with her mother, sister and her boss and showed up at her at workplace with her packed suitcase. He swept her off to San Francisco, where they saw "The Lion King," and he took her to the Top of the Mark, the lounge atop the InterContinental Mark Hopkins hotel, where they had drinks and dessert.
Yamane excused himself and came back with a jewelry box. Then he proposed.
"He had to ask me twice because I was just speechless," she said.
Her answer was yes, and the never-before-married forty somethings tied the knot yesterday at the Halekulani in front of their closest family and friends.
Edel's mother, Elinor Nakagawa, was thrilled to welcome her new son-in-law.
"We kept saying, 'Edel, you know, somebody might be just around the corner for you,' " she said.
And somebody was.
"We feel like he belongs to us," Nakagawa said. The family loved to hear about Yamane's latest surprises.
"Everybody was living through Edel, it seemed," her mother said. "She'd tell us what happened, and we'd say, 'Tell me the story again.' "
Now Edel Yamane is creating another story to retell.
It's about the time she surprised the man who always one-upped her in the romance department and began their marriage by sharing their love story with everyone in town.
Tanya Bricking Leach writes about relationships. If you'd like her to tell your love story next, write to tleach@honoluluadvertiser.com, call 525-8026 or mail your photo and details to Love Stories, The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802.
