Posted: 8/2/06
It wasnít love sick, but air sick, still, she said yes
 (l to r) Brenda Kruse and Nick Skiba. |
By Steve Morris
It was suppose to be easy up, easy down. Thatís what Rush Cityís Nick Skiba had envisioned for a special sign he needed to place on his roof. If only it would have been that easy.
To propose to his girlfriend, Skiba wanted to do something different than the traditional boring, wedding proposal. Something that he could tell his grandchildren and great grandchildren. Frankly, he accomplished his goal.
It all started when he learned his girlfriend of four years, Brenda Kruse, enjoyed flying. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the idea struck him. He would special order a large sign that read ìWill you marry me,î and hang it on his roof. Then rent a plane and fly Kruse over their house and ask the question.
THE SIGN
Six hours before he was suppose to pop the question Skiba drove to Minneapolis to pick up the $280 special-order sign. He went to the front desk and they gave him the bad news; they got his order wrong. Instead of 14 foot by 52 foot sign as he had ordered they had a 28 foot by 28 foot sign waiting for him. The size would not work because she wouldnít be able to see it in one view. After some choice words, Skiba headed back to Rush City angry, but not defeated.
He refused to let the ineptness of one business ruin his plans. He made a quick pit stop at a local hardware store to get white spray paint.
Racing against time Skiba climbed on his roof with $10 worth of spray paint.
ìI climbed up on the old roof and started painting,î Skiba said.
In big enough letters to be seen from hundreds of feet in the air, he wrote, ìWill you marry me?î As he was spray painting his one-year-old roof, Kruse called. Skiba quickly defused the situation by telling her to go to her parents place a few blocks away and wait. After around a half hour of painting, he was ready for the plane ride.
ìI was determined to propose no matter what happened.î
THE AIRPLANE RIDE
For the airplane ride, Skiba had arranged an hour-long flight with Hawk Aviation Inc. of Rush City. The plan was to fly down into the St. Croix Valley area and then circle back over the house where Kruse would see the handwritten sign from her window.
Shortly into the flight she got sick from the excessive turbulence. In fact, she puked enough to fill two vomit bags.
ìShe puked the entire plane ride,î Skiba said. ìI had the ring in one hand and the vomit bag in the other hand,î he said. 1
ìThe plane got thrown around; my stomach couldnít handle it,î Kruse said.
Of course, vomit put a damper on any romantic hopes Skiba had wished for. Instead of an hour plane ride, the trip was cut in half. As they made their way toward the coupleís house in Rush City, Skiba was getting excited. However, he had one more obstacle to overcome. Kruse missed the sign on the roof because her face was in a vomit bag.
However Skiba stayed focused and made another pass of the house. This time Kruse saw the house and the sign and uttered a statement that will forever be remembered in the Skiba family.
ìI would put on the ring but I donít want to puke on it,î she said.
Mark Nelson, who flew the Sky Hawk 172, knew about the proposal. He has been flying for 13 years and has never done anything like this before.
ìIt was fun to see,î he said. ìShe was pretty excited,î
SHE SAID YES
The newly engaged couple have tentative plans to get married sometime in the Fall of 2007.
In the meantime, Skiba will be occupied with trying to remove the spray paint from the top of his house.
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