Marriage proposal 'one for the books'

Pat Christman, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·2 min read

Nov. 18—Ashley Opina always joked with her boyfriend that her wedding would be "one for the books."

Little did she know her engagement would also be one for the books when Nick Larson proposed to her Thursday in the couple's favorite place, Once Read Used Books in Mankato.

"I actually started knowing I liked him when I asked him what his favorite book was," Opina said, still standing among the books in the store with a smile from ear to ear. "We just connected on books. Ever since we started dating, we'd come here."

The pair met while going to Minnesota State University in 2019. After Larson moved home to Eau Claire, the pair decided to start dating but had to maintain a long-distance relationship as she stayed in Minnesota. The couple would visit and FaceTime each other as often as possible until he got a job and moved back to Mankato in July.

"Before he moved back here, we would always come to this bookstore. It was our favorite thing ever," Opina said.

"I could just say we're doing this because it's an everyday thing," Larson said of the trip to Once Read.

Opina said she knew there was a proposal coming, just not the particulars. The pair were already planning a wedding before Larson even proposed.

"I was expecting it to be super extravagant, which is not me at all. I wanted it to be super quiet," she said. "I never expected it. I wouldn't think he'd do it in a public setting."

Larson put the box with the ring on a high shelf in Opina's favorite aisle, a section with classics, travel and books on "cool experiences." Larson used the pretense of shopping for a book for his mother for Christmas to get Opina into the store.

"She was looking and I said, 'How about this one?' and I grabbed the box with the ring and got down on a knee," Larson said.

Of course, like many proposals, nerves got the best of Larson and he couldn't get the box open at first. "I didn't know whether to cry or scream or what," Opina said. "I did my mascara today and didn't want to cry!"

Larson eventually got the ring out of the box and onto her finger. The rest is for the books.

"It just meant a lot that it happened here (at the bookstore)," Opina said.

Once Read owner Mark Hustad can't remember anyone calling him up to ask to propose in his bookstore since he opened the shop in 1965. "One of the more unusual requests I've gotten," he said.

The couple is well into planning their Aug. 8 wedding.