Sun-Times love story

Each time they travel to a new city together, Cleveland natives Allen Paszt and Laura Hardy make a point of reading the local newspaper together in their hotel room to start the day. They stuck to that routine during a recent stay at the Drake -- with one significant modification.

A note in the upper right-hand corner of page 21 of Friday's Sun-Times read, "Laura, will you marry me? Love, Allen."

Paszt, a 36-year-old accountant, bought a 3.7 carat Marquise diamond ring with baguettes on the side in October. He asked for -- and received -- the blessing of Hardy's father over Thanksgiving.

He just needed a clever way to pop the question.

So when Hardy, 35, also an accountant, told Paszt they could both go to Chicago for one of her upcoming business trips, he saw his opportunity and contacted the Sun-Times.

With all the pieces in place, Paszt was up Friday morning at 4 a.m. to track down a copy of the Sun-Times. He brought it back to the room, where he found Hardy less enthusiastic about waking up that early to read the paper.

"I just knew it was going to knock her socks off," Paszt said.

It certainly did.

"Maybe if it was a nice dinner, I would have suspected something was up," she said. "But at 6:30 in the morning, I was not expecting it. I was absolutely stunned."

In fact, Hardy almost flipped past the page before spying the note -- dropping the paper in disbelief just as Paszt was presenting her with the ring.

"Well," he asked her, "will you?"

Gasping for breath, Hardy managed an emphatic, "Yes!"

Hardy admitted that for the rest of the day, she had a tough time keeping her eyes off the ring.

"I had gloves on when we were shopping," she said. "I took them off so I could look at it more. I haven't been able to stop smiling, either."

"We just get along so well," Paszt said. "We're like peanut butter and jelly."

Hardy added, "I'm the sweet one. He can be a bit crunchy at times."


Source: suntimes.com