During Tyler's 2011 spring break, we decided to enjoy a beautiful afternoon picnic in DC—one of our favorite things to do. Tuesday March 22 was the prettiest day that week, so we packed a lunch and headed down to "our tree." Our tree is the lone, twisted tree that sits closest to the Washington Monument, with a 360 degree view of the Capitol, Tidal Basin, World War II Memorial, Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial, and the White House. We had picnicked under this tree before, but this picnic would soon surpass all others.
I was excited to take a day off in the middle of the week and enjoy the beautiful weather on the Mall with Tyler; I had no idea just how special this picnic would be! As we got to our tree, we spread out our blanket and started to set out the food. Before I could sit down, Tyler grabbed my hands, smiled, and told me how much he loved me. Then he got down on one knee, pulled out a tiny box, and asked me to marry him! Beaming, I replied, "Absolutely, yes!" without even seeing the ring! Tyler then untied the ribbon on the box, took out the ring, and placed it on my finger. I hugged him tightly, never wanting to let go.
I was pretty nervous to pop the question but not for the usual reasons. I knew I wanted to propose on the Mall in the spring because of the perfect weather and the perfect views. Two weeks before my spring break I discovered that the Reflecting Pool had been torn up! Well, we would have at least one direction with nice views. The second problem was the weather. It wasn't until two or three days before we went down that we were able to find a nice day. Finally the day came and as anxious as I was feeling, I realized it was not because I was scared or nervous. I was only eager to share my plans to spend the rest of my life with my best friend.
As luck would have it, a woman and her two children were playing by the tree at that very moment. Realizing we were in the middle of our engagement proposal, the woman quickly snapped a few pictures to capture the event. Afterward, she came over to congratulate us. She told us she had taken pictures, hoping we were not offended and figuring we would want memories of that special moment. We were delighted and thanked her for photographing our engagement. We've included her pictures of the proposal below. We are very grateful that memories of that day live on in pictures as well as our hearts! We decided that day to call March 22, 2011 the "Best Tuesday Ever!"
© Tyler Drombosky & Joanna Kreiselman 2012, 2013, 2014