A Texas storm chaser successfully combined the two loves of his life when he popped the question to his girlfriend with a tornado spinning perilously nearby.
An amazing photo posted to his Facebook page on May 17 shows 25-year-old Alex Bartholomew on bended knee as he proposes to his girlfriend, Britney Fox Cayton. Sharing the romantic scene with the couple is a twister descending from a giant, grey storm cloud.
"I thought it would be kind of cool to combine the two best things in my life," Bartholomew told Today.com. "I really wanted it to go like this. I really wanted to propose in front of a tornado to combine the two loves of my life."
Bartholomew's friend, Jason Cooley, took the shots that caught the attention of high-profile media outlets, such as Inside Edition, USA Today, Brides.com, Huffington Post and NPR.
“I wanted to get the tornado right in between them,” Cooley told Inside Edition. “I was worried the tornado was going to disappear. The tornado waited for us. The scene was perfect.”
Bartholomew, who works with his new fiancée at Home Depot in Temple, Texas, fulfills his passion for tornados by taking a few weeks off every year for what he calls a "chase-cation." This is when he invites his friends to join him in his pursuit of spectacular weather systems — and twisters.
Cayton and Cooley agreed to participate in Bartholomew's latest chase, but the future bride had no clue a marriage proposal was in the offing. Bartholomew had purchased the ring in March, but was waiting for just the right time to pop the question.
That time came to pass last Tuesday near picturesque McLean, Texas.
“I had no idea, it was complete shock,” Cayton told Inside Edition. “I just nodded because I couldn’t get the words out I was tearing up so bad.”
"Wow, what a day," Bartholomew wrote on his Facebook post. "2 (maybe 3 tornadoes), great storms and most importantly she said YES!"
The storm chaser added, "I seriously couldn't ask for a better life and I can't wait to spend it with her by my side."
The couple's story was immortalized on NPR. Click the link to hear host David Greene reporting for the Morning Edition.
https://www.npr.org/player/embed/529634838/529634839
Credits: Images via Facebook/Alex Bartholomew; Facebook/Britney Fox Cayton.