How We Met
My mom has always been a meddler. She knew that NYC could be a big and lonely place so 3 years after I moved here she decided it was time for me to meet someone. She had to have her say so she created an account on JDate to find me some potential matches.
When she told me she had found the one I was hesitant, but after some coaxing from mom agreed to meet Gregg for coffee. Our conversation lasted so long that my concerned best friend made two staged, “emergency” phone calls in order to make sure I was all right and give me an opportunity for a quick exit. Fortunately that was unnecessary. Gregg asked me on a second date that evening, and our conversation has continued uninterrupted ever since.
how they asked
The morning before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, Gregg woke me up and told me we were going to one of our favorite brunch spots, Maialino at the Gramercy Park Hotel. Lazy brunches are a weekend favorite of ours and as I always wake up starving, I wasted no time in agreeing and walking over with him.
Now, for some context, Gramercy park is the last private, key-only accessed park in Manhattan. According to the New York Times, there are only 383 keys in circulation for those that live on the park’s perimeter. One of my first New York memories was visiting relatives in the city, looking through the wrought-iron gates wanting to get in. Gregg had secretly arranged to stay at the hotel for the night in order to get a key!
Back to brunch. On the way out of the restaurant, Gregg, “noticed”, a hotel employee letting a guest into the park. He whispered that I should play along as he started walking close behind the hotel guest and pretended that we were with her. My adrenaline started pumping and as I was sure we’d get busted. We crossed the street and before I knew it, the employee was unlocking the gate and smiling as he let us in.
Once inside we walked around, taking it all in. The other guest soon left and we we were left with an oasis inside Manhattan all to ourselves. We picked a bench and Gregg asked me to look at his phone. In conversations I thought were lost, he found our first texts and showed me how he had asked me out seven times before I had agreed to meet him. It was at this moment that I realized what was happening. He then recited to me my favorite poem from memory.
Just as I began to tear up, Gregg got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him.
