Teacher Laura Beachy Gets Engaged

English teacher Laura Beachy couldn’t speak; she was stumbling backwards over her own feet and was close to passing out all in the same moment. She had just heard the five words she thought she would never hear: “Laura, will you marry me?”

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Beachy has been dating Jesse Langdon for almost a year and a half now. Some of her students have mixed the first part of her name with the end of her fiance’s name and created “Lasse Beacon”. Most of her students don’t know Langdon, a few have met him at school productions, but Beachy could tell that students approved of him right away by seeing that she was happy being with him.

Over spring break, the couple decided to take a short vacation to a nature area in Arkansas. The duo stayed in a yurt, a large circular tent with all the amenities, and decided to go on a quick nature walk before dinner. In a matter of minutes, Beachy would be engaged.

“He told me he was very nervous because he didn’t know if he was for sure going to propose then, but he wanted to have the ring with him in case the moment presented itself,” Beachy said. “It totally did.”

The two saw a couple of deer, her favorite animal, and the coyotes started howling. Langdon knew that was the moment.

“He told me how much he loved me and all the right things that someone should say when proposing,” Beachy said. “I lose track of what else he said at that point because I started going numb.”

The first night after the proposal, the two spent the rest of their time going on relaxing hikes and just spending time in nature to relax after the hype of the proposal.

Beachy was shocked at the way students reacted to the news of her engagement to Langdon. She found herself very emotionally on edge throughout the first week back after the proposal.

“I think for Ms. Beachy, we are all excited because she is kind of like a pal to us,” senior Helena Buchmann said. “She is a really strong female figure in all of our lives and I think we were all happy to see her excited about something.”

Once students heard about the proposal, they were overjoyed. Some of the Chamber Choir students sang “Set Me As a Seal” to her during fourth hour to celebrate the good news.

“[The song] was so kind and unnecessary,” Beachy said. “But it was such a lovely gesture, I can’t believe they took the time to do that.”

Beachy began crying during her fourth hour class while the Chamber Choir students sang for her because it was not expected and she had a personal connection with the song.

“She was crying and really emotional and told us that she sang the same song when she was in chamber choir at East,” senior Nichole Hine said.

Along with her students, teachers were also excited to hear the news of Beachy’s engagement.

“When I heard about her engagement I screamed,” English teacher Amy Andersen said. “I was so happy for her.”

He told me he was very nervous because he didn’t know if he was for sure going to propose then, but he wanted to have the ring with him in case the moment presented itself. It totally did.

A few years ago, there was a student in one of Beachy’s classes [now graduated] who always asked “When are you going to get hitched?” Other students could tell that the subject was bugging her.

“I had gotten to the point where I thought, well, maybe [marriage] won’t happen for me,” Beachy said. “I needed to be okay with that.”

Beachy and Langdon met online and within a week of finding each other on the internet they had their first date at a Mexican restaurant, their favorite. Beachy and Langdon had always agreed that couples should know if they should get married within a year of dating. A year passed, then Beachy’s birthday passed, then Langdon’s birthday passed, then the winter holidays passed, and still no ring.

But then it came, and now Beachy has met with her wedding planner and is set to be married on Oct. 5 at Village Presbyterian Church, her lifelong church.

“When something seems kind of right, that’s something that people get the most excited about,” Beachy said.