Dad Holds Back Tears as Boyfriend Asks for Daughter’s Proposal

Everyone knows weddings are an emotional event, but for some, the tears start flowing long before the big day.

The video, posted by Bailey Clark (@aybayybay), went viral after her mother recorded a heartfelt video of her father being asked to marry her by Clark’s fiancé. In the video, Clark’s father can be seen breaking down in tears. Clark, 28, spoke to Newsweek about that emotional moment and how it showed the character of the man she had known all her life.

In the film, Clark’s fiancé asks her father if he could propose to her. “You’re going to make me cry,” Clark’s father replied before breaking down. He concluded, “Good luck with that.”

Clark said Newsweek that the video didn’t surprise her — she expected sentimentality from him, as the only male in a family with two daughters. And although her father is a “man of few words,” Clark said he was always aware of his emotions and communicated them.

“(He) is the most emotionally intelligent man I’ve ever met,” Clark said. “I’m so lucky to be his daughter and to have a role model like him. He taught me to never be ashamed of my emotions and that it’s okay to feel them deeply.”

Still, she wrote in the comments that she was “a mess” when her mom sent her the video after the proposal.

Clark’s father modeled emotionally intelligent behavior more than he did her instruction, she said. Watching her father consistently express his emotions encouraged her to express her own—and the video captured that perfectly.

“His response to my fiancé, Larry, was basically a chef’s kiss on top of that,” she said. “To me, ‘good luck with this’ meant ‘take care of my little girl,’ and I think you could tell from the look on his face.”

Viewers also noticed this balance of emotions: “I was fighting back tears to be able to tell a good joke,” one person wrote.

“Why am I seeing this for the first time?!” wrote another person. “I’m crying and laughing, just like your dad.”

Despite being prone to tears, Clark said her father is “the funniest person on the planet.” Although he doesn’t say much, when he does, he can easily bring the entire room to laughter.

When she told him she was gaining such popularity online, he replied, “I’m a whiny person, I don’t care who knows!” Clark said. “We love confident and sentimental men.”