By Brendan Rees
A man has proposed to a Cranbourne woman in a way that has left her speechless – and one that has captured the community’s heart.
Chris Scholten took his partner Helen Cooper for a drive to the Dandenong Ranges after having dinner at Pine Grove Hotel in Upper Beaconsfield on Valentine’s Day.
“I thought it was a beautiful night; maybe there’s a lookout up there or something like that we’re heading to,” Helen recalled.
But as they came around the bend on Beaconsfield-Emerald Road towards Elephant Rock – a famous landmark in Emerald, Helen couldn’t believe her eyes.
Painted in big block writing across Elephant Rock was the proposal ‘Marry Me Helen’.
“I saw the rock and I was speechless. I wasn’t sure, I thought maybe it’s not me, then he pulled in I thought ‘oh my god’,” Helen said.
Helen immediately said yes, adding “didn’t even have to think about it.”
“It was absolutely perfect…It was quite a surprise when I came around that bend,” she said.
“We haven’t been going out for very long so it was quite shocked.”
The proposal went viral on Facebook days after Valentine’s Day with many posting if Helen had actually said ‘yes’.
“I’m very overwhelmed. I’ve had so many lovely gestures and comments and everything on Facebook and it’s just wonderful,” she said.
Helen says she visited Elephant Rock again and painted ‘yes’ next to the proposal.
“I didn’t realised there would be so much in the community about it so I thought I better go and let everyone know,” she said.
“Nobody had done anything over the top of it because they wanted to know what was going on.
“I’m very humbled by everything that’s been going on to be honest,” she said.
