Thomas is my next door neighbor and one of my favorite people in our building. He is very nice and always greets me with a big smile on his face. I just love his girlfriend, Joanna, too. We first met last year at Bar Method Nashville. Joanna, Thomas, Matthew and I actually took a Valentine’s Day Bar Method class together in February!
When Thomas confided in me that he was planning to propose to Jo, I was ecstatic. He asked me if I would help him and secretly photograph the scene as he popped the question. Of course I said yes, and the planning/plotting began!
Jo and Thomas have completed several half marathons and enjoy running together in their free time. Thomas knew he wanted to surprise her by proposing on a run when she would least expect it was coming! They were planning to adopt a puppy for some time, and Jo had already picked out the one she wanted online. The week of the proposal, unbeknownst to Jo, Thomas picked up the pup (Huckleberry, AKA Huck) and brought him to his sister’s house to stay for the week. We only had one potential road block to the plan: the weather forecast. Up until Friday at 4pm, there was an 85% chance of rain at 6pm on Friday (the time Thomas had planned to propose). Thomas prayed about it, and by 4:15, the weather forecast had reduced the chance of rain to ZERO. It was a proposal miracle and answered prayer!
The day of the proposal, I brought Huck to the trail (with the help of another fabulous neighbor: Halee!) and set up the scene: signs on the fence leading up to a bridge where everything would take place, a bouquet of flowers, rose petals to line the pathway, and of course a big red bow to tie around sweet Huck!
We waited for them to arrive, and in the meantime played with Huck and made conversation with the people who ran or biked by. For a Friday evening, it was luckily pretty quiet on the trail without many people passing through.
Thomas texted me that they were about 2 minutes away, so Halee tied Huck to the bridge and hid while I buried myself in the trees nearby. The goal was for Joanna to not see me taking pictures until after she had the ring on her finger!
The moment was here! I trained my camera on the bridge and Huck, and watched as Joanna entered the frame. She had the sweetest expression on her face as she realized the posters and the pup were for her. I temporarily saw red as a bunch of teenage boys showed up on the bridge on their bikes. I watched in horror as they stopped their bikes on the bridge to watch Jo meet her new dog, interfering with my shot! I was supposed to be in hiding, but I cared about the shot more, so I yelled at them to please move along! Luckily, they did just that as Thomas approached behind Jo, and we got on to the special event. Crisis averted.
Jo didn’t seem to hear me, or she was too distracted to turn in my direction. So thankfully, the moment was captured candidly and naturally.
Of course she said yes. :)
I’m so happy for this sweet couple and can’t wait for them to spend the rest of their lives together. Congratulations, Thomas and Jo! I wish you all the happiness in the world!!
