It's one of those stories they will be telling their grandkids over and over again. When Edi Okoro decided that his girlfriend Cally Read was the one, he bought a ring and started looking for the right moment to pop the big question. So he waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually, Edi wanted to have a little fun with it. After all, it's not like he'll have another opportunity like this anytime soon. He decided to see how far he can go parading the engagement ring right in front of Cally without her noticing it (spoiler: pretty far). He even documented the daring challenge in photos!
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" We met at athletics," Edi told Bored Panda. "We both competed at a very high level and traveled to competitions together. Both also ran for Birchfield Harriers AC."
"I knew she was the one after I realized our conversations didn’t dry up and we bounced off each other."
During the entire engagement ring operation, however, there were a few close calls. "The binoculars. Only because she could have just looked up! Also, walking around with it in my pocket I knocked into her a few times [but] she didn’t notice it was a box."
Edi even shot a few daring videos
Did you know that the first well-documented use of a diamond ring to signify engagement was presented back in 1477? Archduke Maximilian of Austria proposed to Mary of Burgundy with a set of stones in the shape of an "M." Thus, Maximilian and Mary became trendsetters. Pretty soon European royalty began adding more precious stones to their jewelry. However, it wasn't until the late 19th Century, when diamonds were discovered in South Africa, that the idea of using a diamond to pop the question became more accessible to the common folks.
DeBeers are to thank for that. They lucked out in 1948 when the company's ad agency launched the now-famous "A diamond is forever" campaign. Since then, asking for someone's hand in marriage is synonymous with saving up a couple of months' salary to spend it at jewelry counters across the country. Today, more than 80 percent of American brides receive a diamond engagement ring and the industry is a $13 billion dollar business worldwide.
Eventually, he did pop the big question
And she said YES!
"This engagement turned out more than what I originally intended it to be," Edi concluded. "I'm just happy that I don’t have to walk around with [the ring] anymore and keep it a secret!"
After their story went viral, people immediately started congratulating the beautiful couple
