A rosy proposal
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By Chang Soon-hee
The Rose Parade is part of America’s New Year Celebration held in Pasadena, California each year, a festival of flower covered floats, marching bands, equestrians and the Rose Bowl college football game. The theme of the Rose Parade 2015 was “Inspiring Stories.”
A young New York boy met a California girl named Fay at the Rose Parade last year. After exchanging hundreds of emails, FaceTime and phone calls the man decided to personally propose to her on Christmas Day and watch the New Year’s Rose Parade together as a betrothed couple.
At a flower shop in New York City he explained to a sales lady his love for Fay and his strong desire to get married. The bashful boy said he didn’t know how to propose to a girl and asked her advice for the kind of flowers and what to say. She was pleased and gave him a bunch of roses and showed the boy how to bend on one knee and pronounce sincerely; “Will you marry me?” “What if she says no or hesitant to say yes?” the boy was worried. “Oh, just don’t give up, but say, I love you very much, Fay. I’ll love you and will honor you all the days of my life!” she gestured to him. “Girls want to hear the man’s vow,” the lady assured the boy. He thanked her, paid for the two dozen roses wrapped in a celluloid sheet and took a taxi to JFK airport.
The cabin was suddenly brightened by the red roses when he stepped into the plane. The man took a window seat, carefully holding the bunch of roses in his lap. Fine scent of flowers lingered in the cabin air and an old lady who sat next to him admired, “beautiful flowers!” “Thanks, I’m going to propose a girl at Los Angeles Airport,” replied the man reddening his cheeks. “How nice,” she said. “She is very beautiful,” smiled the boy happily. “I met her at last year’s Pasadena Rose Parade. She likes roses. Fay says she will meet me at the arrival lobby of LAX.” Over hearing the boy’s love story, the women passengers in the cabin whispered to each other and conspired a plan together. The elderly lady then informed their idea to the shy boy.
When the captain announced the plane’s approach to LAX, the elderly lady distributed a rose to 23 passengers in the plane leaving one to be held by the bridegroom to be. “We’ll perform a small rose parade at the arrival lobby,” she told him.
“There she is!” said the boy pointing at a girl with long black hair who was stretching and waving a hand among the crowds in the lobby. The 23 passengers, each holding a red rose, queued up and handed a flower to the girl. Some said Merry Christmas, others said congratulations still others said Happy New Year to the dumbfounded girl. “Will you marry me, Fay?” announced the New York boy finally, one knee on the lobby floor and presenting the 24th rose to her. The participants, surrounding the young couple, all at once uttered shouts of joy and clapped their hands.
One of my Korean friends who happened to be one of those present at the rose parade in the lobby of Los Angeles airport recounted the heartwarming story to me in New York. The girl almost fainted, she said.
The writer is a grandmother whose email address is ham1940@gmail.com
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