a proposal...my story
Tara Michelle Woodrum will soon be my wife. What a wonderful reality! This is how it happened:
Back in October 2004, Tara and I drove out to Pennsylvania to visit her family on the occasion of her dad's birthday. She had just acquired an older camera (35mm) from her dad, and she was going nuts with creativity in taking pictures of all sorts of things. Well, on our trip to PA, we stopped at Sideling Hill, a scenic area in Maryland where I-68 cuts through a mountain. Tara set up this camera on a picnic table, set its timer, and ran over to me; we took a couple of pictures of the two of us this way, and then continued on our trip.
The problem: there was no film in her camera! She had taken her dad's word that there was film, but apparently there was some miscommunication there. So...no pictures, especially none at Sideling Hill.
So now we move ahead to mid-December 2004. Tara and I went ring shopping at the Shane Company, just to get an idea of what she likes. Then the next week she flew out to PA to spend a couple of weeks with her family. I was going to drive out to eastern Ohio to visit my family for a while, and then I would drive out to PA, spend a couple of days with Tara and the fam, and then drive back to Indiana with her.
On the Tuesday after Tara flew to PA (which was the day before our first big snowstorm of the season), I went back to ShaneCo and made a selection. It was ready on Friday (Christmas Eve), so I braved the elements that day and picked up the ring. Then it was just a matter of waiting until New Year's Eve, the next Friday....
My plan was to stop at Sideling Hill on our drive back and have Tara take some more pictures of us with the camera (now adequately loaded with film). Then on the last picture I would turn toward her and kneel, say some wonderful romantic words, quote a little bit of Little Women (her favorite opera), and pop the question. Then (assuming she said yes, which I assumed without reservation) we'd have another eight hours in the car to talk about details of the wedding and such...
The night before we left, I went into her dad's computer room where he was working on entering bills into the computer. After "shooting the breeze," I asked him for his permission and blessing to marry Tara.. he responded with an immediate "of course," which I took as a good sign. We hugged and shook hands (in that order), and pretty soon here comes a knock on the door, and in pops Tara. "What are you guys talking about?" oh, nothing.... I thought my cover was blown for sure.
But then Tara came to my rescue. After we left the following morning, she asks me (out of the blue!) if there was film in the camera the last time we were at Sideling Hill. Trying not to reveal my excitement and certainty on this point, I said that no, I didn't think there was film. Would she like to stop and take more pictures? Yes, she would, and aha! it looks like I'm in the clear. Now all that's left is actually to do it. (I love it when a plan falls together..)
So we stop at Sideling Hill, get the camera, set it up on the picnic table, and take some pictures. Tara blinked on the first one, but the second one went well. After the second picture, she asked me if I was ready to go, and I thought my cover was blown again when I said, "no, let's take one more, just be sure." I had to say something, anything to get her to come back for one more picture!
She did so without questioning me. When she ran back to me that third time, I turned toward her, knelt down while holding her hands, and waited for her to give me a chance to speak. (She told me later that she was thinking, "what are you doing? get up, you'll miss the picture!") Then I said all those wonderful things, and she gave me this enormous hug, which promptly caused me to fall over, because I wasn't braced for impact. (I wasn't really thinking about my body's position at that moment..) So I made her stand up, because I hadn't actually asked her to marry me yet. She stood, and I popped the question, and she said yes, and the rest, as they say, is history (or, future..) ...
The film hasn't been developed yet. Here's hoping the proposal picture comes out well..
oh, yes: July 9, 2005.
Back in October 2004, Tara and I drove out to Pennsylvania to visit her family on the occasion of her dad's birthday. She had just acquired an older camera (35mm) from her dad, and she was going nuts with creativity in taking pictures of all sorts of things. Well, on our trip to PA, we stopped at Sideling Hill, a scenic area in Maryland where I-68 cuts through a mountain. Tara set up this camera on a picnic table, set its timer, and ran over to me; we took a couple of pictures of the two of us this way, and then continued on our trip.
The problem: there was no film in her camera! She had taken her dad's word that there was film, but apparently there was some miscommunication there. So...no pictures, especially none at Sideling Hill.
So now we move ahead to mid-December 2004. Tara and I went ring shopping at the Shane Company, just to get an idea of what she likes. Then the next week she flew out to PA to spend a couple of weeks with her family. I was going to drive out to eastern Ohio to visit my family for a while, and then I would drive out to PA, spend a couple of days with Tara and the fam, and then drive back to Indiana with her.
On the Tuesday after Tara flew to PA (which was the day before our first big snowstorm of the season), I went back to ShaneCo and made a selection. It was ready on Friday (Christmas Eve), so I braved the elements that day and picked up the ring. Then it was just a matter of waiting until New Year's Eve, the next Friday....
My plan was to stop at Sideling Hill on our drive back and have Tara take some more pictures of us with the camera (now adequately loaded with film). Then on the last picture I would turn toward her and kneel, say some wonderful romantic words, quote a little bit of Little Women (her favorite opera), and pop the question. Then (assuming she said yes, which I assumed without reservation) we'd have another eight hours in the car to talk about details of the wedding and such...
The night before we left, I went into her dad's computer room where he was working on entering bills into the computer. After "shooting the breeze," I asked him for his permission and blessing to marry Tara.. he responded with an immediate "of course," which I took as a good sign. We hugged and shook hands (in that order), and pretty soon here comes a knock on the door, and in pops Tara. "What are you guys talking about?" oh, nothing.... I thought my cover was blown for sure.
But then Tara came to my rescue. After we left the following morning, she asks me (out of the blue!) if there was film in the camera the last time we were at Sideling Hill. Trying not to reveal my excitement and certainty on this point, I said that no, I didn't think there was film. Would she like to stop and take more pictures? Yes, she would, and aha! it looks like I'm in the clear. Now all that's left is actually to do it. (I love it when a plan falls together..)
So we stop at Sideling Hill, get the camera, set it up on the picnic table, and take some pictures. Tara blinked on the first one, but the second one went well. After the second picture, she asked me if I was ready to go, and I thought my cover was blown again when I said, "no, let's take one more, just be sure." I had to say something, anything to get her to come back for one more picture!
She did so without questioning me. When she ran back to me that third time, I turned toward her, knelt down while holding her hands, and waited for her to give me a chance to speak. (She told me later that she was thinking, "what are you doing? get up, you'll miss the picture!") Then I said all those wonderful things, and she gave me this enormous hug, which promptly caused me to fall over, because I wasn't braced for impact. (I wasn't really thinking about my body's position at that moment..) So I made her stand up, because I hadn't actually asked her to marry me yet. She stood, and I popped the question, and she said yes, and the rest, as they say, is history (or, future..) ...
The film hasn't been developed yet. Here's hoping the proposal picture comes out well..
oh, yes: July 9, 2005.
3 Comments:
that's a good story. if you lived on sammyII you would now be fumbled and i would chain a heavy weight to your leg.
I remember when Ryan Levitt (from Broho) jumped over the pile and landed on his head. Anyway, very nice... I hope to do propose in a way as cool as that one day.
thanks, guys... by the way, the film got jammed in the camera before the proposal picture, so there's no photographic proof of the event. it kind of figures. :)
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