Dean Smith has been prepping for his marriage proposal to his girlfriend Jennifer for 365 days.
Smith videotaped himself holding up a whiteboard asking her to marry him every single day for a whole year, starting with January 8, 2014.
He did this while he was doing everyday things, such as brushing his teeth, eating breakfast or folding laundry.
The big reveal was while they were vacationing in Aruba with her family.
The family, who were in on the creative proposal, escorted her to a beach using similar white boards and then sat her down in a chair and had her watch Smith’s video.
“I just wanted to let you know how much I love you, how incredibly smart, funny, caring and stunningly beautiful you are,” Smith said in the video. “To me, you are perfect.”
He revealed that he made the video the day he decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
“Jennifer, I love you more than anything in the world,” he said. “I know that you’re the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, but I want the timing to be perfect and make this moment special. For the next year, I’ll show you how much I love you and that you’re in my thoughts every day. I want to marry you.”
Smith then walked up behind her on the beach and got down on one knee.
It was an emotional gathering for all. One stranger who had gathered nearby even yelled out, “We all want invitations to the wedding!”
The beautiful gesture was complete with a big group hug and lots of happy tears.
Joseph and Dorothy Bolotin
Sharon, Pennsylvania
Married on June 16, 1938.
Dorothy, "I never think of it in terms of years. I think of it in terms of good years. In love, hot
romance doesn’t last forever. So I would say that yes, I think love changes. I would say we’re still
in love. It’s focusing, doing little things. He’s an amazing man."Lauren FleishmanJohn and Sherma Campbell
Star Valley, Wyoming
Married on May 13, 1955.
Sherma, "When you start out, you think you love each other as much as you possibly can,but love
grows—just like your inner self grows as time goes by and you have experiences.And now at this
stage of the game, I love him even more. I can’t even imagine life without him."Lauren FleishmanJin Lin and Lai Mei Chen
Brooklyn, New York Married on February 4, 1961.
Jin Lin, "We had so many things in common it was like our hearts were the same."Lauren Fleishmande'Spagnolis
Aldo de’Spagnolis and Maria Filiozzi
Itri, Italy
Married on October 23, 1949.
Aldo, "When I first saw her, she was 14 and I was 22.Was there a concern that she was too young
for me? No! Even now I look like a young child! Yes, even now I’m still young."Lauren FleishmanJake and Mary Jacobs
Solihull, England
Married on April 27, 1948.
Mary,"Jake said to me,'Would it ever be possible for me to marry you?' And I said,'Possible but
not probable!' And that’s how it was. It wasn’t likely that I would ever marry him, and he knew
that. So when he went home to Trinidad, my mother and father breathed a sigh of relief. But he
used to write, and he said, 'I’m thinking I might come back to England.'"Lauren FleishmanKissin
Yevgeniy and Lyubov Kissin
Brooklyn, New York
Married on June 29, 1941.
Yevgeniy, "We met at a dancing party. It was in January 1938. My friend invited me to the party, he said there would be a lot of beautiful young girls. Another cadet with high boots had approached
her, but she didn’t like high boots and so she said no to him. I was the second one to approach
her. I had a different uniform, but I’m still not sure if it was my uniform or my face that attracted
her to me."Lauren FleishmanItig and Golda Pollac
Brooklyn, New York
Married on August 13, 1946.
Golda, "I would say love came little by little. Not right away.We were young.And he was older, but I
liked him. He spoke to me in a very nice way."Lauren FleishmanYaakov and Mariya Shapirshetyn
Brooklyn, New York
Married on July 6, 1949.
Yaakov, "What is the secret to love? A secret is a secret, and I don’t reveal my secrets."Lauren FleishmanGino and Angie Terranova
Staten Island. New York
Married on September 27, 1947.
Angie, "You really don’t think about getting older. First of all, you’re aging together, and when you
see a person constantly,you don’t notice big changes. Like you don’t notice, oh you’re getting a
little wrinkle here and tomorrow you say it’s a little deeper. No, those are things that just happen."Lauren Fleishman
