Former Schumer aide surprises girlfriend with airport proposal

Elliot Williams might win the award for going the extra mile for a marriage proposal.

The former staffer for Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and current head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Congressional Relations hopped a flight to Johannesburg last week. But Williams wasn’t headed to South Africa for an exotic vacation — he was there on a matrimonial mission.

Williams surprised his girlfriend, Eileen Yam, by popping the question right at the Johannesburg airport, when she was transferring planes on a trip back to the United States. Yam, a Ph.D. student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health, had been completing academic research in Swaziland.

Fortunately, the couple were able to avoid what would have been a long, awkward return flight to Washington — Yam said yes.

No word on where the engaged pair will head for their honeymoon, with the ridiculous amount of frequent-flyer miles they earned with the proposal.

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