When Matt Whitmer and Leigh Lacy were in the same eighth grade class, they went on a class field trip to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. While their 8th grade classmates clustered around the Bill of Rights, Matt and Leigh went to find some privacy and sneaked their first kiss before rejoining the group.
Puppy love doesn't last, and the two later went their separate ways. However, both eventually went to college at Miami University of Ohio, where they started dating for real. Recently, they returned to the site of that middle school field trip – the National Archives. This time, at the Declaration of Independence, Whitmer got down on one knee.
"It was 12 years ago we had our first kiss. I love you and want 12 million more ... Will you marry me?" he asked.
The staff at the National Archives had been tipped off in advance, and many of them had gathered in the Rotunda at the appointed hour, including Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States. They all broke into applause when Leigh accepted the proposal.
Dr. Weinstein then invited the couple into his office, where he recited a Robert Frost poem:
The heart can think of no devotion
Greater than being shore to ocean
Holding the curve of one position
Counting an endless repetition.
I enjoy your comments and frequently share your tidbits with the Lake-Sumter Computer Society in Leesburg,Florida of which I am president. I do hope you continue sharing with the readers and make Genealogy an interesting subject even for the next generation.
Thanks
Posted by: Judy Rollins | August 06, 2008 at 09:42 AM
That was beautiful! Thanks for sharing it.
Posted by: Joyce Homan | August 06, 2008 at 10:19 AM
... and a wonderful legacy for their posterity!
Happy Dae.
http://www.ShoeStringGenealogy.com
Posted by: Dae Powell | August 06, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Aw, I got goosebumps. Guess I'm a hopeless romantic after all.
Posted by: Kate Foote | August 06, 2008 at 03:50 PM
Ah! NARA does have something for everyone!
Posted by: Sheri Fenley | August 06, 2008 at 04:19 PM