This man proposed to his girlfriend in a most creative, sincere, and heartfelt manner—by kneeling at her late father’s grave to ask for her hand.
Matthew Russo and Kristina Broughton met and fell in love in Napa Valley Winery in California in 2011. And on March 3, 2016, Matthew felt that the time was right to ask Kristina for her hand in marriage, and he started making preparations.
To ask his girlfriend’s parents for her hand in marriage, Matthew thoughtfully planned his whole itinerary, flying 3,000 miles (4,828 km) from San Francisco to Orlando and Las Vegas then to New York on one weekend.
Before embarking on his journey, he asked Kristina to drop him off at the airport and told her he was going to New York to “celebrate a friend’s birthday.”
Matthew made a surprise visit to Kristina’s mother’s home in Orlando, and then to her grandma’s home in Las Vegas, to ask for permission to marry Kristina, whom he loves so much. Her mother gladly agreed for Matthew to marry her daughter.
“Her father would be so happy too, Matt,” said Kristina’s mom. “He knows you’re good to my daughter, that you love my daughter.”
And so did her grandma, who gave Matthew a diamond ring set in custom rose gold and platinum for their engagement. The ring has been a family heirloom for over 80 years.
Matthew even traveled to Highland Mills in New York to pay his respects to Kristina’s deceased father, who was buried there and passed away in 2007.
After laying a bouquet of flowers before Kristina’s father’s tombstone, engraved with the words: “Life is not forever…..love is,” Matthew knelt in front of his grave and declared his love for his beloved daughter, and sincerely asked for his daughter’s hand.
“I wish I would’ve had the chance to actually have met you. Kristina tells me all the time about how you and I are very similar. I take pride in that considering how highly she speaks of you,” Matthew said at Kristina’s late father’s tombstone.
“I hope you’ll accept me and allow me to one day be your son-in-law. I promise to adopt your role as a caregiver. I promise to protect and look after your daughter for as long as I live.”
That was a special moment for Matthew, as his bride-to-be adores her father from the bottom of her heart and Kristina has always said Matthew is somewhat similar to her late father.
The sweet guy conscientiously recorded these events, from visiting Kristina’s mother, then her grandmother, to kneeling before her father’s grave.
On June 11, 2016, Matthew asked Kristina to accompany him “to celebrate another friend’s birthday,” and he took her to Napa Valley Winery, the same place the couple first met. It was then that Matthew pulled out the special video and showed it to a very surprised Kristina, who was so moved. Tears kept rolling down her cheeks as she watched Matthew kneeling in front of her father’s grave in the heartwarming video.
Just then, Matthew dropped to one knee and popped the big question to the love of his life: “Will you marry me?” And of course Kristina said “yes!”
The couple got married in September 2018 and went for a month-long honeymoon to many places, including Bali in Indonesia and the Swiss Alps.
