Sam, a lieutenant in the US Army, had contacted me about photographing his proposal to Rosalyn.

Sam, Rosalyn, and his parents were planning to visit the Smokies in February and Sam wanted to use THE day - Valentine’s Day - to propose to Rosalyn. This presented a challenge, as the road to Cades Cove was closed for repairs, and spots like Clingmans Dome were undergoing its seasonal close. Fortunately, the family was staying in Gatlinburg and so we chose one of the best spots for a winter proposal: the Greenbrier beach, aka “the moonrocks.”.

Except . . . the beginning of 2020 saw East Tennessee get hit with A LOT of rain. In fact, two nights before Valentine’s Day, a massive storm dumped over 7” of rain on the Smokies. I went to Greenbrier the next morning to see if the road was still open or whether fallen trees had it blocked.

The good news? The road was open.

The bad news? The moonrocks were underwater. The Little Pigeon River was roaring!

But no bad news, I hoped. I saw that no more rain was forecast and so I crossed my fingers and told Sam that I believed the waters would subside. He agreed to go forward.

Now, Rosalyn and Sam were visiting Gatlinburg along with his parents. Here was the story: Sam told Rosalyn that his mother had gotten a coupon and arranged for a family photo session. His dad, however, asked Sam to run an errand and so they would all meet up at the Greenbrier beach for the shoot, traveling in separate cars.

I got there first and thank the Lord, the river had gone down! BUT - with the rain passing through, a cold front had moved in and the temps felt like the low 20s.

Sam and Rosalyn arrived, but not without getting a phone call from Sam’s parents that they were running late. Sam “informed” me of that when he arrived and I “suggested”, well, let’s at least start with Rosalyn and Sam because it was a cold day. I lent Rosalyn an extra jacket that I had to protect her and we moved to the beach.

I had prearranged with Sam that I would put them in place, test my light, and when I said, “The settings are PERFECT,” that was his cue to start the proposal. Mind you, even though the river had gone down, it was still wild and I wound up yelling, “The settings are perfect, THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!”

And then . . .

Aw, you want to see a video of this all, don’t you?

Well, keep scrolling down!

And Sam did not pull any punches, producing quite the ring for Rosalyn!

As is my tradition, after a proposal we also do a short photo shoot, so the couple has some pictures to remember the day by. Hats off to Rosalyn and Sam - despite the cold, they kept smiling!

Wait, did I promise a video? I kept a camera mounted nearby and let it roll, allowing me to document the event.

It might have been freezing, but hearts were warm!

Mazel tov, you crazy kids!

Are you planning to propose? Let’s make it something special - give me a holler!