By MICHAEL NUNES
Staff Writer
EAST BRUNSWICK — When Sam Santiago proposed to his girlfriend, he didn’t choose a stereotypical beach or romantic restaurant.
Instead, he chose his local library.
On March 12, when Santiago and his girlfriend of one year Rawn Brown went to the East Brunswick Library to tutor a student, little did Brown know that everyone around her was in on a charade.
In the middle of the tutoring session, one student guided Brown toward an aisle where Santiago waited with a hallowed book of Shakespearean poetry.
As he opened the book to reveal the engagement ring hidden inside, she immediately said “Yes.”
“God’s given me creativity, that’s just the bottom line. I really think it was divine intervention,” Santiago said about coming up with the idea for the proposal.
“She exhibits a kindness and gentleness, a loving compassion, and it just exhorted a spirit in you that I wanted to have for the rest of my life,” Santiago said to Brown during an interview with the couple.
For Brown, she had a feeling that would be the day Santiago would get down on one knee.
“I had my suspicions, but my family didn’t give it away,” Brown said about the surprise proposal.
After she accepted, the couple went into one of the library meeting rooms where friends and family waited to congratulate them.
“I think honestly it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a community to have a healthy and wonderful relationship,” Santiago, 39, said of relatives who came from as far away as Chicago to take part in the event.
To have a successful relationship, according to Brown, 26, a person must give their all. “Immerse yourself in the relationship. Be honest, be vulnerable and really count the cost to see if you can be with this person for the rest of your life,” Brown said.
“Get to know each other up front and have other older couples in your life to help you through working with issues at the very beginning.”
Contact Michael Nunes at [email protected].