Storm Over the Bald: Kassadi and Keegan's Marriage Proposal

Aug 20

What do I tell clients?

“You never know what the weather will be like - the Smokies makes its own weather.”

When Keegan and I first started talking about his planned marriage proposal to Kassadi, he asked about the weather, concerned that the forecast some 10 days out said it was going to be thunderstorming.

And, well . . . yeah. It is August. The heat and the humidity of the day often join to produce big cumulus clouds in the late afternoon - such clouds that then get “trapped” by the mountains, resulting in what could be a sunny Gatlinburg while Clingmans Dome is shrouded in mist, being at 6600’.

But sometimes you have to take chances.

The plan was simple enough: heading to Nashville as part of a two-day drive home to Iowa from North Carolina, Keegan and Kassadi would take the scenic route through the park via US 441, taking time for a short hike from Clingmans Dome to Andrews Bald. He would propose, she would say yes, and all would be well.

I got to Andrews Bald well before the couple . . . and watched with trepidation as clouds started gathering to the west. Okay, I told myself, maybe it will just be a sprinkle.

And then I heard the thunder.

Now, a mountain bald is probably not the best place top be in a thunderstorm. It is a meadow - a very exposed meadow - atop a mountain. And there I was, with a metal tripod.

Then the sky opened - and I retreated into the forest for some shelter.

BUT - Keegan and Kassadi were on their way and the storm that blew in suddenly left just as fast. Clouds still, yes. Thunder still, yes. But I was not going to let this stop my mission.

And then Keegan and Kassadi, a little soaked from the rain, arrived. He led her over to a spot, took out his Bible from his knapsack, and got down on bended knee.

Let’s take it from there . . .

This was the Scripture he read to her before asking her to marry him (1 Corinthians 13:4-8):

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

Kassadi was overjoyed. Funny enough, on their way to North Carolina, the couple had stopped in Nashville to enjoy that fine city and Kassadi had teased Keegan after they left, with a sort of, oh well, you might have proposed there, ha, ha - never knowing his plans on the return trip home to ask for her hand in a setting he knew she loved, the mountains.

So, everyone got a little wet. So what? As I like to remind proposal clients, it does not matter if you are sweaty and dirty for these pictures. You can get cleaned up for engagement pictures, but that is just a photoshoot.

A proposal is a story - in fact, it is the first chapter of your family history, so it should be as real as it can get.