Two American strangers meet in a foreign land and fall in love…
While this is what happened, it wasn’t quite so straightforward. Kevin and Ramona met in Spring of 2018, when Kevin first arrived to Romania for what would end up being an 18-month deployment. Ramona had already been working in Romania a year at that point and took no notice of the new personnel coming in. For Kevin, the first time he saw her walk into the office, it was love at first sight. Ramona, on the other hand, saw him just as a colleague. Over the next many months, the two only saw each other at either work or friendly group gatherings, and gradually, a friendship formed between the two, which would be the foundation for things to come.
Fast forward to the summer of 2019…their friendship blossomed into a budding new romance, and by the time Kevin’s tour of duty came to an end in August, their romance had fully blossomed into a relationship, and they spoke of a future together. As the adage goes, "When you know, you know." Kevin and Ramona certainly knew, and when Kevin returned to Romania in September for a visit, he asked Ramona’s father’s permission to marry her. After this, the plotting began…
Kevin contacted Ramona’s friends in DC to plan a surprise proposal. Ramona had planned to visit the States for Thanksgiving to meet Kevin’s family in Alabama, and then she and Kevin decided to first visit DC, so he could meet her friends. Kevin had mentioned that he very much wanted to tour the Library of Congress while in DC before meeting everyone for dinner. As they walked around the Great Hall, shortly after arriving, Ramona suddenly saw her friends come out from behind a wall, just smiling at her. Perplexed at seeing them all in the middle of the day in this seemingly random moment and place, she didn’t pay attention to what Kevin was doing behind her. As soon as she turned around, Ramona saw Kevin on his knee holding an open box in his hand with the most beautiful engagement ring inside. After she said, “Yes,” she knelt and kissed him, and the entire hall erupted in cheers and clapping. As an added surprise, Kevin had hired a photographer to document the moment and do an engagement photo session right then and there. It was as special a proposal as Ramona could have ever hoped for.
We are beyond excited to share another special moment in our lives with all our dear friends and family.