Every once in awhile you get an e-mail in your inbox that makes you stop dead in your tracks. Kent contacted me all the way from Georgia two weeks ago. He was driving  up the following week to meet his girlfriend, Anna, for the holidays. He was prepared to give her the biggest gift of a all…. marriage! Of course I cleared my scheduled and helped him plan a magical evening for the love of his life.

From Kent: “One of the motifs in Anna’s and my story has been the idea of a Christmas gift: we are gifts to each other. So I’m hoping to give her the ring in a big gift, hidden under the holiday tree at Union Station (Anna loves all things Christmas-related). I chose Union Station as the venue because railroads have been the location of several key events in our relationship.”

I delivered the gift and placed it carefully under the monumental DC tree. I waited for the couple to appear. To remain unnoticed, I took pictures of the tree on my iphone, offered to take pictures of tourists and pretended to  ask security guards for directions. Finally the lovebirds stopped at the tree. You honestly couldn’t miss these two! They were already beaming! Anna was excited when she saw a gift waiting by the tree… with her name on it!  They went inside the busting station to open the 10 layers of gifts. Each one brought tears and laughs. The anticipation was building! When one gift was left, Kent got down on bended knee. The main hall of Union Station roared in applause. Congratulations Anna and Kent!