Within one hour of landing in New York City and searching for lunch on the Upper West Side in December of 2015, we walked in to Jacob’s Pickles and were seated near a young couple at the same longish table in the front window. (It’s not uncommon to share tables in the city’s space-challenged restaurants, so we thought nothing of it.)
But within seconds, we heard soft giggles coming from the female at the end of the table. She was teary-eyed. We smiled. Said hello. And she said, “You’ll have to excuse us. But we just got engaged.” And then we caught on. This young man had just proposed. Right there in Jacob’s Pickles. His newly designated fiancé added quickly, “I’m just so excited.” And she genuinely was.
She called her mom. She called her sister. We tried not to look, but there we were –seated next to the blushing, hugging, kissing, cooing, obviously-in-love couple. And WE were getting teary-eyed. True love and admiration and spontaneous joy were right beside us at our shared table.
We offered to take their picture with our phone and send it to them, when they, of course, said, “Oh, would you please take another with our phones? Then we can send them to our relatives.” More giggles. More oohs and ahhhs. And we were grateful for the chance to share in this private joy.
Then it was their turn to share. They had met in Guatemala while working on a philanthropic endeavor, and they’d fed the fires of a long distance romance ever since. She was a grad student at Fordham in NYC; he was a chef of a restaurant in Berlin, Germany. An international romance between two people who, to this day, remain nameless to us.
They had no idea right then when a wedding would take place or where they would live happily after or how they would make all this love work. But, truly infatuated, they were finding joy in the moment.
We watched them toast each other with champagne, compliments of the restaurant. We ate our lunches. And we said good-bye.
But that one tiny, meaningful event became the romantic kick-off for our entire stay in New York. Nothing else came even close. It was a serendipitous one love scene at a busy lunchtime restaurant in the Big Apple.
For more examples of this theme — Weekly Photo Challenge: One Love — click here. It just may make your day!
Amy
How wonderful to be there sharing their joy and happy moment! Thank you for sharing it with us, Rusha! 🙂
Oh, the Places We See
Thanks, Amy. We still feel the love!
Regina Martins
What are the chances of being witness to that wonderful experience…I loved the story!
Oh, the Places We See
Thanks, Regina. It’s one experience from a whole week in NYC that we still talk about today! Appreciate your stopping by.
Cynthia Moxley
Great story. Put a smile on my face at the end of a long Monday. Thanks.
Oh, the Places We See
It was just one of those serendipitous moments that we’ll probably remember forever. Picture-perfect. Thanks for the comment!
Suvi
What a delightful encounter! Excellent for this challenge too 🙂
Oh, the Places We See
Thanks so much for taking a look and commenting. It’s an encounter that we won’t soon forget!
Curt Mekemson
A delightful blog on One Love. Doesn’t get much more romantic. 🙂 –Curt
Oh, the Places We See
You’re right about that, Curt. Made us recall how we got engaged and how giggly and twinkly we were that day!!!
Curt Mekemson
Ah, young love… 🙂
I. Greenwald
This is such a beautiful and touching story, so perfect for this challenge. Thank you for sharing.
Oh, the Places We See
Thanks for taking a look. It really was more than just a picture of this couple. Their interaction with us and admission of how excited they were just made our whole day! Appreciate the comment.
Judy @ NewEnglandGardenAndThread
What a ‘perfect’ entry. 🙂
Oh, the Places We See
Thanks, Judy. We still talk about that day and how that kick-off was perfect for a stay in NYC. Sometimes people think that big cities are impersonal, but there are little pockets of personal stories everywhere!
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Too Mutch For Words
How lucky you were to witness the moment! That’s my favorite part of travel – those little ‘common’ experiences (like an engagement) that we trip into in unfamiliar places. A lovely reminder that we’re all sharing one love, together!
Oh, the Places We See
We were quite fortunate to land at that restaurant, that table, that day. How fun! And after spending 48 years together, we needed a reminder of how tingly we felt on the day we got engaged. It was just a good encounter all around! Thanks for commenting!
SueBee and Kat
Wonderfulness!
Oh, the Places We See
Thanks so much for taking a look. It was a wonderful experience!
dawnkinster
This is priceless. And absolutely perfect for this WP photo challenge. Perfect. I wish them all the best in their future together.
Oh, the Places We See
Thanks so much for your comment. We left the restaurant without getting their names, emails, etc. So it was a one-time, chance encounter. But it will stick with us a long time!