As a boy I spent many hours daydreaming about flying for the Armed Services. My favorite television program at the time was “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, a TV series based upon the famous Marine fighter pilot Gregory “Pappy” Boyington and the VMF-224 “Black Sheep” Squadron. I never missed an episode and during the summers I would set up my “Corsair” (lawn chair on a picnic table with a broom handle to fly with) and fly endless missions, shooting down the enemy and landing at exotic locales. Always the hero. But the military pilot dream ended before it began. I wore glasses, and military pilots didn't wear glasses.
All those memories came flooding back when I met Sarah and Brock. Brock is a fighter pilot for our Armed Services and that's about all I can say about him. In my mind, he's living the dream.
Despite his enviable career, the real dream for Brock is Sarah. Brock shared with me the story of how he proposed to Sarah.
Brock wanted to surprise Sarah with his proposal of marriage and was looking for the perfect opportunity to pop the question. His opportunity came when one of his missions was canceled due to bad weather, and Sarah just so happened to be there when he got word of this. With the blessing of his commander, Sarah got the tour of airplane in sort of a pre-flight manner. The tour ended up on the wing and Brock knealt down to finish his pre-flight of the jet and said something to the effect, “...and finally and most importantly, I have to always make sure that this ring is securely attached where it belongs,” and holds up an engagement ring. Hearing not a sound, Brock looked up to see Sarah's legs wobbling beneath her as she stood near the edge of the wing. He quickly reached out and wrapped his arms around her legs so she wouldn't fall. Pre-flight complete... and Sarah said, “yes”.
Here are some photos from their engagement session, they will wed in July.
