It was the perfect moment in time for a couple in New Mexico and thanks to the help of a former Navy photographer, they were able to catch their proposal on camera but they did not get the moment they expected.
John Hart was with his grandson, Jamie Hart, and Jamie’s girlfriend recently when they met a couple from California on the Sandia Peak Tram in Albuquerque. John was the one to strike up a conversation.
“He introduced me to his girlfriend and at that point, I said, ‘Wow, hey, this would be a great chance for you to propose to your girlfriend,’ and that put a big smile on her face, and unbeknownst to me, that was the plan,” he told KOB 4.
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When they reached the top of the mountain, it was time to pop the question.
“He kind of distracted his girlfriend and then that’s when he saw me and he pointed at me and asked me to help to take the photo,” Jamie said.
He then gave the camera to his father, a former Navy photographer, who began filming the proposal. However, Hart didn’t flip the camera so he unknowingly began recording his reaction to the proposal.
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People erupted in cheers as the proposal happened, with John remarking, “That’s so cool.”
“I didn’t know it was going to happen but I sure said something,” he says on camera. “Give her that ring and give her the biggest smile.”
It wasn’t until later that he found out from the groom-to-be, Chris.
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“That was backwards — you were filming yourself the whole time,” Chris says off-camera, laughing.
John said that given his past experience, he thought it would go differently.
“I thought I could handle this,” he said. “Well, unbeknownst to me, I was taping myself.”