Words do not even begin to express the magnitude of our engagement on September 16th 2017. The day started out overcast and a bit drizzly, none the less we headed to Portsmouth, NH for an afternoon of lunch and strolling through the town to celebrate my birthday. During the 25 minute ride to Portsmouth, Chris told me that he had a surprise for my birthday, and that it was something that we both have always wanted to do. I spent the majority of the car ride and our lunch trying to guess what we could possibly be doing. Sky diving, bungee jumping, and a hot air balloon ride topped my list of guesses, until I correctly guessed a helicopter ride. I could feel my adrenaline kick in when he told me that’s where we were headed after lunch.
Fast forward to the sun shining at Seacoast Helicopters, where we boarded a 4 person, candy apple red helicopter with the owner and his pilot. They strapped us in and hooked us into headphones to communicated with each other. A half an hour ride down the seacoast ended in Newburyport, where we began to turn around and head back to the airport in Portsmouth. I began to wonder if we would pass over my moms house in Salisbury as we passed over all of the familiar landmarks. To my surprise we were headed right for her, I was glued out the window with my cell phone trying to catch a video or a photo to send to her, I even hoped that she would be outside gardening and hear us above her.
As we took the sharp right to fly over her property, I noticed there were unfamiliar yellow flowers in her front yard, a closer look and I realized that the flowers were actually spelling out “Marry Me” in hundreds of Sunflower heads. As soon as I realized what was happening, there was Chris presenting me with a gorgeous ring in a helicopter, flying above my moms house! I was so overwhelmed and happy and confused that much of the next few minutes were a blurr, as the pilot landed our air chariot in her front yard.
After my initial long winded cry from joy, I was then hit with another wave of emotion as I realized my entire family and friends were there waiting for us, documenting every moment of our landing, waiting to celebrate with us. I couldn’t believe what he had managed to pull off so smoothly, and without me having any suspicion. We spent the remainder of the day celebrating with food and champagne and laughter. It truly was one of those stories where ,”You just had to be there” in order to feel the amount of love and happiness that we relished in. I will never forget that day for as long as I live, and I look forward to trying to top it at our wedding!!. XOXO-Erica and Chris
