Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Kristin Earley cracked open the door of a room on the second floor of the St. Albans Library on Dec. 13. Glimpsing a crowd, she thought she'd wandered into someone else's event.
Her friend, Danielle Moles, who — like Earley — is a Marshall University student, had said to meet her at the library because she needed help with a finals report.
Kristin's boyfriend, David Griffith, had come with Moles to the library along with Josh Goble, Griffith's best friend.
Goble and Moles were there for the show.
"We had roses sitting there as soon as you walked in the room on the left," Griffith said.
He grabbed the dozen pink roses and handed them to Earley as she walked in the door.
"I don't know if she knew what was going on at the time because she was still like, 'What's going on?' She had that look in her eye," Griffith recalled.
"We had this little hollowed-out book type of thing, and we put the ring in that. So, after I gave her the roses, I grabbed the book and opened it and got down on my knee."
Then, he asked her that eternal question: "Will you marry me?"
The people waiting in the room — Griffith's parents, his sister, both sets of his grandparents, as well as Earley's parents, her brother and one grandma — all got to see her answer in the affirmative.
"She was kind of shocked." Griffith said. "She cried a little bit, then she laughed and smiled. It was a good time."
The couple had been together for three years and, while marriage was in the cards, she expected that a proposal might take some more time, since Griffith, 24, had recently landed a job as a St. Albans Police Department patrolman.
"I was shocked," Earley said. "I had no idea at all. And it was going to be hard to shock me, after three years."
Griffith and his mother had also done some homework.
Earley, 21, is a senior majoring in English education at Marshall. Her dream job is to teach English at her alma mater, St. Albans High School.
"So, she really loves books," said Griffith. "Me and my mom sat down and were brainstorming some ideas. She's really big into literature and all that. So, we came up with the idea to do something in the library."
They created poster boards, cracked open like books and set on tables, featuring photos of the couple's "love story," as Griffith put it.
He also chose a numerologically significant date for the proposal: 12-13-14, since the couple's first date was Sept. 10, 2011: or 9-10-11.
The couple toured the room after the proposal.
"It was really cool," said Earley.
"He and his mom made these, like, book posters. It started out with one of our very first dates. It was like, 'Once upon a time.' It went through the last three years. Then there were some love poems: 'How do I love thee, let me count the ways . "'
And there were books, she said. "Books are my favorite things. So everything was book-themed. He did a good job there."
Griffith, who ended his training period as an officer on New Year's Day, had been nervous about whether he could successfully pull off the wedding proposal or not.
"It's kind of hard to surprise her," he said. "She's been asking about an engagement because we've been together for three years. I kept telling her it would probably be sometime in 2015. It really caught her off guard. Which is what I wanted, because I wanted her to be surprised."
And those roses? They'll have another use once the couple decides on a date in 2015 for their ceremony.
"We're going let them dry and use them for the rose petals in our wedding," Griffith said.
___
Information from: The Charleston Gazette, http://www.wvgazette.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
