Imagine your response if you were to see yourself proposing to your future wife (or being proposed to by your future husband) ... in a photo the whole world can see online ... without you even knowing it.
This is exactly what happened to Mel Reyes and Jordie Egbert when Egbert discovered that a photo of Reyes proposing to her atop a beautiful mountain peak had gone viral across the web via social networks such as Facebook.
Egbert was delighted, and as it turns out, she wasn't alone. Even Good Morning America picked up on the story, whose own mountainous peak may have been when Egbert received a message from a family friend that the photo had been reposted by another friend who lives all the way in Germany.
The photo of the mountain-top marriage proposal was taken by Geoff Parker (34) of Seattle, Wash. Despite the fact that Parker was a complete stranger to Egbert and Reyes, he still found the image to be photo-worthy, capturing the moment and posting it first on Facebook, then on Instagram.
"We just hiked the trail and I always have my camera with me," Parker said, as relayed by ABC News on Tuesday, May 21. "We got to the top of the summit and were looking out over. It was a really foggy day. My wife yelled from behind, 'Hey, look over there.' Down a little further was this couple. I took a couple photos, and then they stood up and hugged and kissed."
Parker assumed the marriage proposal photo would be something the new husband and wife would "cherish forever," according to ABC News, and this was part of his reasoning for posting an intimate pic of complete strangers on social media: Perhaps Reyes and Egbert would find the photo this way.
Parker also posted the photo on Twitter, outright asking if anyone might know who they are.
What Parker may not have anticipated was the response from everyone else in the world.
"I posted it on Facebook first. They got a pretty big response from my friends, and a couple more people shared it," Parker said. "Then, I put it on Instagram the next weekend. That's when it blew up."
Egbert (21), of Puyallup, Wash. explained that Parker's plan (unforeseen side effect of the photo going viral and all) did work when her family friend sent her the image as posted by the friend in Germany.
In realizing how hard Parker was working to try to locate Egbert and Reyes, he also ended up bringing a tear to Egbert's eye.
"She [Egbert] sent me a really sweet email thanking me so much for the images and for trying so hard to find them," Parker said. "She cried all day."
Some might feel that what Parker did was a violation of privacy, but Egbert disagrees.
"He [Parker] said he doesn't have that kind of picture from when he proposed," Egbert said. "He has the memory in his head, but nothing concrete to show from it. To him, it was something special. He was living through us. He wanted at least someone to have a picture of that special memory. It was a good gesture. He did it for us. That is so cool."
What do you think about what Parker did? Was this is a kind gesture or a privacy violation? Let us know your feelings in the comments below.
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