Serendipity and the City

Rosa
Brooklyn, NY
leading lady

It’s easy to fall in love in New York. With such classics as “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” and “An Affair To Remember” immortalizing the romantic aura of this city, or with the contemporary favorites, “When Harry Met Sally” and “Sleepless In Seattle” giving hope to bereft souls that everything is possible in this droning metropolis, one would very well discover that nothing is really kept hidden in New York, not even true love.

Rosa always felt, too, that the one, true love was just somewhere out there, not too far from the city that’s been her only home ever since she was a child. Though she thought it did not have to be as fantastical as the way they happened in the movies, Rosa just believed that when it was the right moment, love would find her one day. Almost any single woman in New York has probably said the same thing, but what made it different with Rosa was that her one day really did come, only it took thirteen years after it all began once upon a time.

Now to majority of the population, thirteen years may seem like a fairytale gone bad (with that number, “ominous” sounds more like it), but this gym locker room attendant was not easily dissuaded. At some point, however, after countless failed relationships, a few missed connections, and a marriage breaking apart, Rosa declared late last year that she was going to take several steps back and instead of focusing too much on the search for “the one,” she was going to just enjoy what her single life had to offer for her and her 5 lovely children.

And just like that, at the exact moment when she made her declaration, the signature New York enchantment worked its magic on Rosa at last. It came to her in a way so mundane yet so unpredictable that this helpless romantic couldn’t help but chuckle at how her story unfolded. After all, if love finds you inside a crammed subway car as you bump casually with the cousin of your ex-boyfriend whom you met thirteen years ago when you were dating his closest relative, and have only seen sporadically the last decade or so, then that’s definitely one love story you won’t be hearing anywhere else other than this city of so-called happy beginnings.

So after reconnecting with the most unexpected person, Rosa decided to take a shot at love one more time. And soon enough, things just fell into place. From one surprise after another, she then found herself engaged, with the proposal taking place at no less than another “classic” New York establishment – the laundromat – Rosa finally realized that you can never dictate love’s timeline. “No matter how ready or experienced you think you may be, love has its own schedule that you have to respect because it works out better if you follow it that way. I mean, I waited 13 years! Thirteen years! And soon I got tired of waiting. And then BAM! There it was!” Rosa gushed.

Last Friday, June 27, New York offered Rosa the best surprise yet – an unforgettable, intimate marriage ceremony at the Brooklyn City Hall. And for the record, it was not spawned by the Sex And The City movie. The couple had planned it way ahead before the movie came out, only they just decided the day prior to their wedding to have it on that Friday. And if you think that was as New York as it could get, wait till you hear what the bride wore – a pair of jeans and a dressy, black top. Then it was off to work for Rosa right after the vows were exchanged, where the ecstatic bride shared to the rest of the hopeful, single women in the gym locker room that true love really is worth waiting for. But at least in New York, Rosa adds, you have so many interesting, varied things to enjoy while you’re biding the time.