Making the Most of a Perilous Occupation: A Wedding Proposal on the Magellan

Hello Troops,

I want to thank Nicole for writing this post. Strange things indeed happen at the Space Center, not the least of which - a marriage proposal. I met the bride to be on Sunday at my niece's home. Family and friends of my niece were gathered for the obligatory feast following a baby blessing when I overhead a young woman talking about her wedding proposal at "that space place". Autumn brought her right over and introduced me to her. She showed me the ring. We both agreed it was a proposal never to be forgotten.

And now Nicole's account of the proposal itself.

It started off as an unusual mission, but not unusual in a bad sense. The Magellan crew had decided to throw a surprise party for their grandfather, a self-proclaimed Trekkie. We often have surprise parties for younger crews, but not usually for an older crew. The crew consisted of all age ranges as members of the family came together to celebrate the grandfather’s birthday. The mission itself was fairly normal; the crew and the staff both did an excellent job. At the end of the flight, the crew asked Zac and me to take some group pictures of them as they celebrated their victory.

After taking multiple group pictures with three different cameras, the birthday grandfather, who had been the admiral, left the group to talk with Zac and me. “Get the cameras ready,” he whispered with a gleam in his eye. “We are about to have a real proposal.”

Zac and I looked at each other with obvious delight; nothing like this had happened to us at the Space Center before. The admiral walked back down the stairs to join his crew.

“As the admiral of a starship, it is my privilege to marry people,” he stated. After some bantering between the crew members, one man stepped forward and asked if he could get married. The admiral nodded his approval and the man turned to his girlfriend. He got down on one knee and with victory music playing in the background, he asked her the question; while cameras flashed, she smilingly held out her hand and told him that she would marry him. Cheers broke out from the crew. The man slipped a diamond ring onto her finger.

Zac and I grinned as we continued to snap pictures while the crew celebrated. In my humble opinion, I believe that the man must have realized how short life can be when you are in the perilous occupation of flying a space station and, during the course of the mission, must have decided to finally marry the woman he loves. That, of course, is my own opinion, and you can see the situation as you wish. Zac and I were excited to have been able to take part in such a rare event at the Space Center, and we join with everyone as we wish the couple a wonderful future together.