Man grows marriage proposal into lawn

Tommy Dafoe is going to have a hard time topping his proposal to Kristi Volz. Dafoe, of Isabella County’s Chippewa Township, used his professional experience to offer a unique proposal last weekend, asking Volz, his girlfriend of three years, to marry him by “writing” the words into the lawn at their home. Dafoe spelled out “Will U Marry Me” with fertilizer a few weeks ago, allowing that grass to grow a lusher green, then watered those areas more frequently than usual.

When the lawn got tall enough, Dafoe carefully mowed the grass around the letters, making the proposal visible, but to someone who didn’t know it was there, it could be difficult to discern. Volz was getting ready to go to dinner on Friday when Dafoe, who owns T’s Lawn Service, asked her to look at how green the lawn looked. At first, she didn’t see the proposal. “I didn’t notice it at all,” she said. “I didn’t notice it from inside. I didn’t notice it until he had me go outside.”



Taking Volz into the front yard, the words rising from the lawn still didn’t register until Dafoe took the traditional proposal stance. “It didn’t even register until he got down on one knee,” Volz said. “Then I realized what was happening. I thought it was perfect.” Dafoe “practiced” the proposal on a few lawns that his business tends.

“He has areas where he can practice,” Volz said. “I was very surprised.” Although the two had discussed marriage, she didn’t see the proposal coming at the home they share with their dogs, Marley and Monty. “I had no idea,” she said. “We had talked about it before, but I didn’t think it was going to be any time soon.” Volz and Dafoe are in the process of setting a date, likely in August 2011.

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