An aviation student from northern Minnesota found a creative way to propose to his girlfriend — he used an airplane and a frozen lake.
Gavin Becker took Olivia Toft out for a joy ride in a Cessna four-seater on Sunday as a Christmas gift. When the couple flew over Eighth Crow Wing Lake, where Becker's parents own a resort near Park Rapids, Toft spotted a message: MARRY ME, carved in capital letters in the snow below, just above a heart.
The plane approached the message from the side, but Toft could still read what it said.
"Oh my," Becker remembers her saying before glancing at him and turning back to look at it again.
"She saw it a little early and I think it kind of shocked both of us," Becker said. "I thought: 'Well, I better get the ring out now.' I was fumbling around in my pocket."
Becker cut short his planned speech to pop the question: "So will you marry me?"
Toft said "Yes."
Though Becker is known for being independent, he had some help in dreaming up and executing the idea. His parents, sister and her boyfriend measured out the 25-foot tall letters in the snow and carved the message down to the ice with help from a snowblower.
