Proposing Again on Their 50th!

He popped the question a second time, and she said “Yes!” all over again!

On a family beach vacation to celebrate five decades together, Bob Clark surprised everyone by getting down on one knee after the family photos. He had a question for his wife, Lynn: “Would you spend the rest of your life with me?”

The couple often joked about whether they would do it all over again. This was a chance for Bob to formally ask the question and Lynn’s chance to say “Yes!”

The re-proposal seemed a perfect way to express the couple’s life-long love and commitment on a milestone anniversary.

A Return to Where It All Started

For the  Hickory Creek, Texas, couple who live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, this fifth annual family vacation to Cinnamon Shore made the perfect setting to celebrate and look to the future.

Having met and married while living in San Antonio, the couple spent their honeymoon near Port A in nearby Rockport, Texas. So, a beach celebration felt right. “It was a natural thing to re-create the moment and to have [our family] there,” Bob adds.

Their two sons and daughters-in-law joined them, along with their four grandsons and four granddaughters. “We’re a very tight-knit family,” Lynn says.

Privileged to Experience This Milestone

“There are so few people who get to experience this,” Bob says. “They don’t have the opportunity to spend that many years together. The fact that we did and get to share it with our kids and grandkids makes it really special.”

Hannah Blanchette of Flash Photo Creative takes family photos for guests at Cinnamon Shore, and she was there to capture the moment! (You can reserve a session with Hannah HERE.)

Capturing the Moment

Hannah snapped pictures during the cake-cutting in their rental home’s lovely kitchen. Then she lined everyone up on the porch steps. The group started to head across the Great Lawn to the beach for more pictures, when Bob suddenly dropped to one knee to pop the question for the second time.

“I almost couldn’t get back up again,” he says, laughing.

An Heirloom Ring

And Bob and Lynn had worked together to design an anniversary ring, using diamonds from vintage family jewelry that belonged to Lynn’s mother and grandmother. “The ring was not a surprise, but the proposal was,” she says. “It’s kind of a nod to the past and the future.”

Finding the Perfect Vacation Rental

As honeymooners, she was 19 and he was 22 when they booked a week at a motor court motel for $75! Fifty years later they’re enjoying more luxurious accommodations at Cinnamon Shore.

Lynn says the family has enjoyed all their rental homes at Cinnamon Shore, but for their fifth trip and anniversary celebration, they booked a past favorite: Oceanaire.

Located directly on the emerald-green Great Lawn and surrounded by porches and balconies, it offers two bunk rooms – one for the grandsons and one for the granddaughters. “The kids take over the downstairs,” Lynn says. At mealtimes, there’s plenty of seating at the dining table for 8 and kitchen island with seating for 6. And everyone gathers on the cozy sofas in the second-floor main living room or hangs out on the breezy porches. “It just fits our family,” Lynn says.

A Bright Future

The Clarks’ future is busy and bright. Lynn serves as the mayor of Hickory Creek. And after his stint in the U.S. Air Force and a 36-year career as a Southwest airline pilot, Bob is now retired and volunteers at the George W. Bush Library.

Together they’ve weathered some health challenges that Bob has faced, along with five decades of marriage. They attribute their bond to their Christian faith, reliance on one another, and genuine compatibility. “No secrets. Being able to talk about things. Having fun together,” Bob says. “We enjoy each other, and that’s a good thing because we’re together a lot now.”

“Have we had ups and downs? Absolutely,” Lynn says, noting Bob’s cancer battle 10 years ago. “But it’s those things that draw us closer.”

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ALL PORTRAITS BY HANNAH BLANCHETTE/FLASH PHOTO CREATIVE