…in a far away land, there was a place where magic happened. This land is where Christopher Robin met Winnie-the-Pooh in 100 Acre Wood, where young Alice ran after a talking white rabbit and fell into Wonderland, and where Paddington Bear was taken in and adopted by a loving family. It is the land where Tolkien sat down and dreamt up Middle Earth, where Dickens made happy endings for Oliver and Pip and many more, and Austen helped Elizabeth Bennett realize Mr. Darcy was not such a villain after all.

In much the same vein as these classic stories, Justin made one Anglophile’s dream a reality, adding twists and turns from his own brilliant and bizarre mind.

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Back in the greatest state in the union, Minnesota, Justin and Sara piled their bags into Bumblebee (Sara’s yellow Toyota Prius-C) for a week-long road trip to: Destination Unknown. While Sara was ignorant of what was to come, Justin had masterminded a whole adventure, planning and planning for over a year to create the perfect engagement story for Sara, who knew only that she had taken time off work and packed her suitcase for mild (and maybe rainy) weather.

The couple’s first stop was the nearby metropolis of Chicago, IL, and, as Sara was soon to learn, this would be their last stop in North America. Driving the next day, Sara slowly came to the realization (through peppering Justin with non-stop questions) that they were now, in fact, headed to the airport! Now that the road trip had been revealed for what it really was, a plane trip, Sara squirmed with curiosity and excitement! Where, oh where, would they be going? Exotic locales danced through her mind as Justin checked their bags, and they meandered through the security line, but one destination kept pushing itself to the front of her mind…the land of magic…birthplace of so many of her favorite stories…yet…it couldn’t be…

As they waited at their gate, Sara could not be deceived much longer. Over the loudspeakers she heard, “Flight 100 to London, England, now boarding.” Elation spread through Sara’s body as if a firework of joy had been lit inside her. Her grin spread wider than the Cheshire cat’s, and Justin smiled back, happy they could now share in the thrill of his very first trip to Europe!

A surprise trip to London would, of course, have been more than gift enough from Justin to Sara, but it was only the first of many. Justin had prepared air pods for Sara to listen to music on the plane, neck pillows to encourage a comforting sleep on the flight over, and even remembered to pack her favorite England-themed t-shirt. Surely, the trip could not get any more astounding. Sara remembers landing at the Queen’s Terminal and feeling like she was inside one of her favorite stories but with herself as the protagonist. Their hotel was just off Paddington Station, and everywhere they looked was history and people and so much to be curious about.

The days in London passed in a whirlwind of museums, pubs, public transit, and shows. Justin gave Sara a golden wand necklace, reminiscent of their shared love for the magical Harry Potter series. She wore it every day they were there, which was particularly important the Friday morning they boarded the London Eye, London’s 443 foot tall ferris wheel. 

Once their car had ascended to the top of the wheel’s rotation, Justin got down on one knee, every part the perfect prince of yore, and proffered a small golden snitch up to Sara. Using the golden wand Justin had given her earlier in the trip, Sara was able to open up the golden snitch and discover her One Ring inside. Justin proposed marriage to Sara with a golden band bearing a secret message to her in Elvish - here in the land where the language was invented! Friendly strangers in the same pod as them applauded and even took pictures of the moment unprompted to share with the couple after.

* * *

Thus began Justin and Sara’s next great quest - their path to marriage. Some people may not believe that fairy tales and magic are real, but they are. Just as Elizabeth Bennett became Mrs. Darcy, Oliver Twist found his grandfather, and Frodo defeated Sauron, Justin and Sara found each other, and this is but the beginning of their happily ever after…