A woman was brought to tears when she swapped canvasses with her boyfriend during a painting session and noticed four important words had been added to his work: “Will U Marry Me?”
Mariah Battles, 25, and her then-boyfriend Eeyan had traveled to Dallas, Texas, where Eeyan had planned a surprise picnic date, during which he suggested the couple try their hand at painting.
To hide his surprise, Eeyan suggested the couple follow a TikTok trend, which would see the two have separate canvases, which they would paint on for five minutes, swap, and then repeat until each work was completed.
After a few exchanges, Eeyan, who had been keeping track of time, then announced it was time for one final swap, at which point Mariah looked at the canvas and read the words asking her to marry him.
As she laid eyes on the message, the 25-year-old froze in shock, sitting in silence and smiling as Eeyan then mentioned how much she meant to him and presented her with a ring.
The couple had known each other since high school, but it wasn’t until they went on their first date in January 2023 that they knew they had something special.
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Eeyan headed off for work with the U.S. Air Force a month later, making a promise he would keep in contact with Mariah and the couple would explore their connection further once he’d completed basic training.
The picnic in Dallas was a way of celebrating their five-month anniversary when it went viral.
Speaking of the proposal, Mariah, who is based in California, said: “As soon as I read it, I immediately looked at him, and we just sat in silence smiling at each other for a bit.
“Seeing the proposal was an indescribable moment of pure joy.
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“For a second, I could not believe what I had just read, and I felt like, for a moment, I was frozen in time and that he and I were the only two on the planet.
“I can genuinely say I was speechless.
“When I looked over at him after reading it, I honestly felt like I could see the whole rest of our lives in his eyes, and the look on his face said it all to me.
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“I could always see and feel the love from him, but this smile was the most wholesome, pure, and loving smile I think I had ever seen on his face.
“All I could think at that point was, ‘This is real?’
“It’s a memory that I’ll cherish forever and I’m so thankful for that moment that we shared together.”