A newspaper reporter in Canada investigating a mystery in her town probably never thought she would end up covering her own marriage proposal.
It all started back in April when residents of Welland, Ontario, began spotting pink heart signs around town. (Via Welland Tribune)
Welland Tribune reporter Maryanne Firth was asked to look into the local mystery for the paper. She told Yahoo she thought they were for a charity event at first. "The signs started showing up and they were hard not to notice around town. They were bright but it's so rare to see signs these days that don't deliver a direct message. It just started to bug me."
To try to get to the bottom of things, Firth started a hashtag on Twitter and began asking anyone and everyone if they knew anything about the mysterious pink hearts.
No one had any information for Firth until last week, when new signs started popping up next to old ones with information for an event to be held on Sunday afternoon in one of the town's parks.
When Firth arrived at the park that day, she was greeted by dozens of people and a man dressed in a suit with a box over his head. He was handing out flowers, so she took one. (Via Facebook / Nathaniel David Johnson)
The next thing Firth knew, the mystery man gathered the remaining flowers into a bouquet and took off his mask as everyone around her started taking photos. As one of the onlookers revealed on Twitter later that day, it was her boyfriend getting ready to propose.
Firth wrote in the Welland Tribune, "This was the man who I've loved for the past eight years. Who I've built a life with. Ryan got down on one knee and as I tried unsuccessfully to hold back tears, he asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. ... Of course I was ecstatic."
When the park finally cleared out and the excitement died down, Firth realized she could finish the story she had started weeks ago. Luckily, she had plenty of pictures to use for research from the dozens of people in attendance, including her parents, whom her boyfriend had secretly invited.
