Lieutenant Bryan Gillan of the Vancouver Fire Department has always had a flair for the dramatic.
“He’s not a quiet, meek kind of guy,” girlfriend Marie-Anne Lenko said.
When it came time for Gillan to propose to Lenko, he enlisted the help of his fellow firefighters to stage a routine drill outside her office in downtown Vancouver.
Gillan climbed a ladder and tried to get Lenko’s attention.
“I am looking through and she is still looking at her computer and — ‘Hello, guy on a ladder over here,'” Gillan said.
“I hear all this commotion in the background and then I look up and I see Bryan and I knew something big was going to happen,” Lenko said.
Gillan then opened his jacket and revealed a sign that read, “Will you marry me?”
After he got down from the ladder and they were finally face to face, Gillan got down on one knee and popped the question the old-fashioned way.
It was a new beginning for Lenko and Gillan, who was once named Firefighter of the Year by the Vancouver Board of Trade. The two first met when they were 21 years old; life took them in different directions until they reconnected through a mutual friend eight years ago.
They have yet to set a wedding date. For now they are just taking in the moment.
– With files from Sonia Sunger