CHICAGO —A highly visible public area in downtown Chicago became home to a grand romantic gesture on Tuesday.
Tribune affiliate WGN-TV says reporter Shannon Halligan saw the message as she flew by in the station’s helicopter and took it upon herself to find the couple.
The man who wrote the message is Bob Lempa, who initially planned the gesture for Valentine’s Day.
He told WGN he wanted to write a proposal message so large that his girlfriend, Peggy Baker, could see it from the window on the 37th floor of the Blue Cross Blue Shield building. But when the big day finally rolled around, he ran into a problem: no snow.
On Tuesday, Lempa could finally get to work on the surprise. He said the letters were 34 feet tall and 31 feet wide, and took them over six hours to make.
Baker told WGN she was still completely surprised.
“Other people had noticed it earlier but I hadn’t noticed it until I saw a few other people looking out the window, so I knew something was going on but I really didn’t know it would be for me,” she said. “It was so huge, and a big and bold statement.”
The days of anticipation while waiting and hours of work paid off for Lempa: she said yes.
