Maryanne Firth was just doing her job and reporting on a rash of mysterious hearts popping up around Welland, Ontario for weeks, bringing a sense of joy and togetherness to the community. Well after a bit of digging, a few tweets and another story, a break came in Firth’s investigation and she soon became part of the story in a romantic way. From The Whig:
The signs quickly became the talk of the town, and I wrote a story about how no one was coming forward to claim them.
Now I know why.
About a week ago, new signs began appearing next to the existing ones, indicating something was going to happen at Chippawa Park on Sunday at 3 p.m.
As luck would have it, or so I thought, it was my weekend to work. I’d get to find out exactly what the creator of the mystery hearts had been planning all along.
I arrived at the park, slung my camera bag over my shoulder and headed over to a pop-up tent set up near one of the park’s pavilions.
Despite the rain, dozens of people came out with umbrellas in hand, all eager to satisfy the same curiosity that had been eating away at me for weeks.
Inside the tent was a man dressed in a suit with a box over his head.
And this is the part of the story where things get tragic right? Where we find the hooker’s head in the box and the man is really a psychopath? No? Well, OK. What happened next?
He was handing out flowers to onlookers with what I can only imagine was a smile behind his cardboard disguise.
He handed one to me — a sweet, but familiar gesture — then continued passing them out to others. Then he gathered up the remaining flowers into a bouquet, and he turned to me.
He removed the disguise.
This was the man who I’ve loved for the past eight years. Who I’ve built a life with.
This was all for me.
Ryan got down on one knee, and as I tried but failed to hold back tears, he asked me to spend the rest of my life with him.
No pressure, right?
Of course I was ecstatic. Shaking. Crying. Of course I said, Yes! (via)
Well this guy certainly raised the bar on surprise proposals, didn’t he? Looks like it’s back to the drawing board for me and my second wife. My other family doesn’t know about her, but I was going to propose in the cereal aisle at the Piggly Wiggly.
Congratulations to Maryanne and her beau, Ryan. He certainly provided one heck of a mystery with an ending that paid off for everyone involved. Those pink hearts were truly something special.
(Via Welland Tribune / Canoe)