Molly and John

Posted Monday, March 09, 2009 10:46 AM

Molly and John used to go to a local park all the time in the beginning stages of their relationship -- between classes, after dates, whenever. John wanted to incorporate that sentimental location somehow into the proposal, so on the night he was going to ask, he took her to a cliff (about 200 feet straight up) overlooking the Tennessee River and the aforementioned park. John brought glow sticks with him under the pretense of throwing them off the cliff and watching them float in the river. She thought it was just him being a guy, so she suspected nothing. She had no idea that at the park, John had eight friends awaiting his signal to illuminate a huge 7’ x 25’ sign that read, “Marry me.”

Back at the cliff, they chatted for a bit about old times while taking in the beautiful views of the city and the park. Nonchalantly, John pulled out the glow sticks and suggested they toss them over the cliff. Molly obliged, unbeknownst to her that the glow sticks were the predetermined visual cue for John's friends to light up the banner. When the lights shone on the banner across the river in the park, she turned around, confused and crying happy tears. John was on his knee, saying a lot of nice things that concluded with the proposal. Through her tears, she said, “Yes!”

The mission had been code-named “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” because John had planted two candles at the cliff site, and the test of the successfulness of the mission would be how many candles John lit after the question was asked (a “one if by land, two if by sea” sort of thing). If his friends at the park saw one candle, they’d know the mission had failed, but if they saw two, they’d understand the mission had succeeded, at which point they’d touch off some grade-A fireworks. Molly and John are pleased to report that the proposal went exactly as planned, both candles were lit, and the fireworks display was phenomenal.