Shamus Clancy and Ashley Suder were strangers when they met at a Super Bowl championship parade to recreate a famous photo. They were brought together by a viral tweet and a bold suggestion.
On the night the Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl, defeating the New England Patriots in February 2018, Shamus Joseph Clancy posted on Twitter what was intended to be a throwaway joke. He had no reason to think it would introduce him to his future wife.
He posted the famous photo of a Navy sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square, suggesting he was feeling a joy similar to Americans when they claimed victory in World War II. Ashley Nicole Suder, who didn’t follow Mr. Clancy but saw his tweet shared in her feed, sensed an opportunity and made a bold suggestion.
“If you’re looking for a girl to recreate this during the parade I’m here for it,” she wrote in response.
He agreed it would make for a good photo and tweet. So four days later, after the Eagles marched down Philadelphia’s Broad Street in an exuberant celebration, fulfilling a longtime dream for the city, the football-loving duo found each other on the parade route. Within about 30 seconds of meeting, Mr. Clancy dipped Ms. Suder, lifted her left leg for a bit of flair, and planted a deep kiss on her as his friend, Vincenzo Siciliano, took the photo.
“He just grabbed me, and took me, and dipped me, and I was like, well, OK, hello, this is OK,” Ms. Suder said.
Though the kiss went well, they immediately parted ways — the whole interaction lasted about a minute, barely a word spoken otherwise — and they waited to see if Mr. Clancy’s tweet with the photo would go similarly viral. It did.
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