There are many ways to pop the question
Even when a couple has been dating for years, on one knee or not, “Will you marry me?” is still a timeless question.
“We met on a blind date. He was in the service on leave,” said Lillian Griffith of Karns City.
David Griffith was home just a week and they went out on a few dates. When he left, he asked if they could write to each other. It was at least 12 months before they saw each other again.
Lillian said David was in the U.S. Navy and on an oiler, a ship to refuel other ships, off the coast of Vietnam. They wrote a couple of times each week. He knew she liked Snoopy and he sent a cartoon in every letter.
“When he came in July, within a week we were engaged,” Lillian said. “When he got off the plane, it was like, 'He's the one.'”
She didn't expect the proposal the night it happened.
“We were sitting around a campfire at his parents' cottage in Bedford County when he asked,” Lillian said.
That was July 1966. During the same leave, David and Lillian shopped together for a ring.
“My dad went with us. He knew a jeweler,” Lillian said.
She had no trouble choosing a ring and they bought it the same day.
“We were on a budget. We weren't going to charge something we couldn't afford,” Lillian said.
It was a long engagement. When David came stateside again, he was stationed in Alaska. Lillian remembers that the price of a phone call was $35 a minute to call from her home in Johnstown to Kodiak.
However, his location gave Lillian a good opportunity to get to know his parents and sister. She took a 67-day rugged driving trip with them on dirt and gravel to see David in Alaska.
She said by the time they were married, she and David had only been in the same place for 56 days.
“For our 35th anniversary, we took my wedding ring and my engagement ring and had it bonded together and reconfigured and added another ring to it,” Lillian said.
She has the diamond on a gold band and David still wears his original wedding band.
Tarra (Burk) and Travis Felsing of West Sunbury were dressed as candy sugar skulls when the big moment arrived on Halloween, Oct. 31, 2015.“I had no idea. We were at a party with a bunch of his family. My mom was there and I didn't think anything of it,” Tarra said. “My best friend was there and I still didn't think anything of it.”During the evening there was a vote.“They were giving out awards, sexiest costume, most creative and things like that, and they said cutest couple,” Tarra said. “He said let's go up there.”She was reluctant and didn't think their black outfits and temporary facial tattoos warranted recognition.“I didn't think we needed to go up there,” Tarra said. “We stood up in front of everyone with other couples. The host of the party stood up and said, 'Well, somebody has an announcement they want to make. Travis go ahead.' Travis stepped out in front of everyone and everyone had their phones out and he asked me to marry him.”While the occasion was hardly traditional, Travis was. He was on one knee and had a ring.“Of course I said, “Yes,'” Tarra said.“We had been going out for about a year and a half,” she said. “When you know, you know. I'm a sucker for fairy tales and love stories.”It was only about three months into their relationship when the couple started talking about their future together and she started thinking of a ring.“I would take screen shots on my phone just so he knew what I wanted,” Tarra Felsing said. “He had it custom made.”The ring has small diamonds and two baguette diamonds surrounding a central diamond.“Part of me wondered whether it would just be us when we did it or whether we would be with people. I'm glad that he did it with people around,” she said.“We're very close with our families. I think it was important for all of them to see it and share that moment with us.”
