One of the things I do for fun now and then is try to engage in some competitive sport. Several years ago, my sport du jour was kickball, which is how I met Jon. Always upbeat and fun to be around, Jon was always a fantastic team captain. Enough about that, though.
Several weeks ago, Jon reached out and wanted me to come to Central Park and meet him in the “bird feeder area” to take photos of his proposal to his boyfriend, Dom. By the way, if you’ve not heard of the Bird Feeder Area, don’t feel bad — neither had I. At the appointed time, I got into Central Park and started following the spaghetti trails that would lead me to meet Jon & Dom. As luck would have it, my phone GPS decided to lose connection under the trees, and I was left trying to pick my way along the route to our meeting place blindly. Luckily I was able to get a text off to Jon from a clearing, and managed to find our spot about 5 minutes before they showed.
Just on cue, the crowds stopped walking through, and Jon and Dom appeared on the trail. Not wasting any time, Jon started speaking to Dom, dropped to his knee, and proposed. As you can see, Dom was clearly suprised, and even better… he said yes! It’s times like these that I’m glad I’m behind a camera, because had I been just friendly witness, I would’ve been all shook up myself.
After we finished up there, we walked around the area for a few photos of Jon and Dom around Central Park, and they headed off into the sunset together… or to a 12:15 lunch reservation at The Loeb Boathouse. One of those. I headed back home, started working on these photos, and took the time then to get a little teary-eyed.