December 29, 2009
A Holiday Proposal
Rob Plagmann and Naomi Walski embrace after Plagman proposes in the forensic lab at the National Museum of Natural History. Photo courtesy of the museum
The forensics lab at the National Museum of Natural History was the scene of an event that I suspect hasn’t happened in its history—a marriage proposal. Capt. Rob Plagmann, 30, a marine stationed in Quantico, Virginia, took his girlfriend of nine months Naomi Walski, 29, to the museum’s “Written in Bone” exhibit last Monday. Walski, whose background is in forensic biology, was visiting Plagmann for the holidays; she’s been living in Utsfunomiya, Japan, where she teaches English at a Japanese elementary school.
After viewing the exhibit, the two went to the anthropology department’s forensic lab—a visit prearranged by Plagmann. There, while Walski was being distracted by an intern, Plagmann slipped a custom-made slide under a microscope. He beckoned his girlfriend over to the microscope, and she peered in to read, “Naomi, I will love you forever. Will you marry me?” Plagmann got down on one knee, and Walski said “YES!”
“She was paralyzed with shock at first and then just ecstatic,” Plagmann says a day later.
In the microscope, a slide bears the question. Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Natural History
He had started planning the behind-the-scenes proposal in October, having to special order the laser-engraved microscope slide from a scientific device company in Illinois. But the tough part, says Plagmann, was tearing Walski away from the exhibit.
Afterwards, Douglas Owsley, head of the museum’s division of physical anthropology, gave the two a special tour of the museum’s mummy room, chock full of sarcophagi and Egyptian and North American mummies, and showed them forensic cases he is working on but hasn’t yet solved. (How romantic?)
“I just couldn’t believe how willing everyone at the Smithsonian was to jump on board and help,” says Plagmann. “It was unreal.”
Plagmann and Walski have not set a date for the wedding but say it has been the subject of much holiday discussion.
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This really is so adorable and romantic. Well done on both the Smithsonian and the future groom’s parts!
[...] blog is also worth checking out, for exhibit updates and quirky behind-the-scenes stories like this post on a couple who recently got engaged at the National Museum of Natural History (in the [...]
LOVE IT!!!
We at Scientific Device Laboratory in Illinois were excited when Capt Plagmann called and asked us to print this unique microscope slides. We have printed many different patterns on slides in the past, but never something like this. All the employees were happy to hear that she said “yes.” Best of luck to you both.
[...] 5. Follow in Capt. Rob Plagmann’s footsteps and design an elaborate proposal based on a Smithsonian exhibition. Read all the juicy details of Plagmann’s proposal here. [...]
[...] A Holiday Proposal — Everyone is a sap for a good marriage proposal story, so when we heard about this charming tale [...]
Amazing! Creative proposals are the way to go. I recently got hitched, and I proposed with a video, which I posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_NFavhYjxk with an explanation — “I took her to a karaoke club (where I had set things up in advance) and we sang in a private room for a little while. Then, while she went out to grab us a couple of drinks, I cued this video up and hit play when she came back. And the rest is history!”