Tyler Shelton dated his girlfriend Haylee Rose for seven years, and throughout that time, he always wondered how he was going to ask for her father Greg’s blessing one day. Sadly, he passed away on April 25, 2014, of heart complications, and Tyler never got the chance.

Fast-forward 13 months later, and the 21-year-old video blogger proposed on a cobblestone street in Rome, Italy with cameras rolling. As if that wasn’t romantic enough, he decided to dedicate his proposal video to his late father-in-law’s memory.

In an interview with The Today Show, Tyler explains that he could have compiled cute clips of him and Haylee throughout the years, but their engagement video served a deeper purpose. “The reason I wanted to make it was because I didn’t want to just let it go unnoticed that we’re going on without him. This is a big point in both of our lives, and I didn’t want to sweep that under the rug. I wanted to recognize that Greg was a big part of our lives,” he explains.

Watch the video here:

In the video, Tyler vows, “I wish you were here to hand your baby girl off to me, so I promise to be more than you would ever want me to be. I want to be the man who shows her love and patience and gives her everything she needs. I’ll tell her exactly how beautiful she is, and I’ll show her how to believe in herself. I will take care of her. I want to give her experiences people only dream of and love her unconditionally because I wouldn’t want to see the world with anyone else.”

“But most importantly, I’ll make you proud to call me your son,” he adds at the end.

Plus, check out 48 Heartwarming Proposal Stories.

— Stefania Sainato