WILL YOU MARRY ME?: Happy ending for Bowmanville graffiti proposal

Graffiti artist Chad Tyson says he was nervous setting up a surprise proposal in Bowmanville, but not about the outcome. “I was more scared of something going wrong than of her saying no,” Tyson said. “I just wanted it to be perfect in every way, because she deserves it.” Chad Tyson proposed to girlfriend Kassandra Swinimer with a graffiti mural at the old Goodyear plant in Bowmanville. By Nicole Abram photo Tyson, graffiti artist and owner of The Paint Factory, didn’t know what he was in for when he first connected with Kassandra Swinimer, a Montessori teacher, on Tinder in 2018. As the pair chatted, they discovered they actually lived in homes that backed onto each other in south Ajax, and Tyson knew then this might be something special. “It’s like it was meant to happen; it’s such a small world,” Tyson said. “We had been taking our kids to the same park and I’d just never seen her. If I had, I definitely would’ve said hi.” In time, Tyson purchased a pool ladder to throw over their backyard fence to make visits easier. “I could just hop over and see her,” he recalled, laughing. Tyson said the decision to...