If cinematic grandeur is your goal, there are probably few places in the District better for a marriage proposal than the top of the Capitol Dome.
Not that that was initially the plan of Mark Bieszka, legislative aide to Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), when he decided to propose to his girlfriend, Lauren Grumm. But thanks to a freak set of circumstances and the help of his boss, he was able to pull off the dramatic proposal last Monday.
According to The Hill, Grumm had a rare weekday off while a group the congressman planned to lead on a tour of the Capitol rotunda canceled at the last minute, giving the couple of brief window of time. The idea for using the dome came from some of Aderholt's aides, but he wanted to lend a helping hand as he did in January, when another of his legislative aides proposed to his girlfriend on the Capitol Dome.
Later that day, Bieszka, Grumm, Aderholt and some of his other staffers met with the tour guide. Grumm felt something was off because her boyfriend loves photography and typically would have his camera with him for such an event. They made their way to the top of the dome, where Bieszka peppered the guide with questions to distract him.
We'll let Grumm take it from here:
“He was talking to me and he got a little serious and told me how much he loved me and he wants to love me for the rest of my life,” she said. “And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s happening?’
“And then he walked around me, he got down on one knee and opened up this big box and this beautiful ring was right there,” Grumm said. “And he said, ‘Would you make me the happiest man? I want to love you forever and I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?’ And I was so shocked, just because I wasn’t expecting it that day.”
And naturally, we're not writing this up unless she said yes.
