At 4:15 pm on August 14th, 2003 New York City went  black. The power went kaput. 9/11 still very much at the forefront of peoples minds, a chill went through me realizing the entire city was powerless. I was on 28th street, just about midtown, sitting at my desk. I was working a crappy job for a jewelry company that I could have cared less about. I used to steal Xanax from my boss. When we realized it was a black out and all rules were off, he broke out his weed stash and we all got high in the showroom. I had been chatting with my boyfriend all day on AIM and suddenly being cut off was too much to bare. This was a momentous occasion after all. With no contact, no computers, no phone, how would we meet? At the time we were both sporting Nextels. As luck would have it, I began to fiddle with the ‘blinger’, that’s what we called the 2-way radio device on the Nextel, and got through. He told me he’d jump on his bike (as in motorcycle) and he would meet me walking down Broadway. I would start heading South and he would be heading North.

With the rest of NYC I set out on foot. It was hot. A store owner gave me a water to stay hydrated. It was fun, all the people walking together, looking at each other like ‘Woah, this is crazy’. I’m sure for some this was far too close to 9/11 to be enjoyable. As I made my way downtown, the excitement of seeing my guy grew. We had been dating since mid June and had outrageously intense chemistry. I was totally in love but hadn’t mentioned it yet, only mouthed it to him behind his back. I knew in my heart this was ‘the one’. I knew almost the moment we met and the feeling swelled each time we hung out. This guy was everything I ever wanted and more. For 2 and a half months we partied, lived it up, we made out  on a water tower high above the city , we went to Atlantic City for the 4th of July and I squeezed him tight, trusting him with my life, flying down the BQE on the back of his motorcycle. 

As I approached 12th street there he was, my hero, come to scoop me up and take me home. I jumped on the back of his bike in my flirty little dress and off we went. Traffic was at a hault and the sidewalks were packed. We easily made our way through the bumper to bumper traffic on the motorcycle. Around 6 o’clock you could feel the anticipation of nightfall in the air. Bodegas were giving away ice cream because the freezers were loosing their coolness. Beers were quickly being consumed for the same reason, well that and that the whole city was preparing for a blackout party. 

When the night did fall it was time to explore. It was a beautiful night, warm and pitch black. Our typically electrified city was quiet with the silence of darkness. We headed to dumbo where we landed literally between the bridges. I mean we were sitting between the two bridges, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge, and we were at a little bar called Between The Bridges. The bar was running on a generator and people we sitting laughing at candle lit tables. The excitement of being in a blacked out New York City, looking at the shadows of the massive bridges, was a once in a life time feeling. And being with the person I had been falling in love with all summer made the experience intense. It was a love overload. This was it. The moment. The moment I decided to tell him. Could there be a better time? I sat with my legs folded on a bench in front of the bar and I said “Um, I have to tell you something”. He told me he would grab us two more drinks and I could tell him what it was when he returned. Sitting alone on the bench I was giddy, nervous and happy. When he sat down I stuttered “I-I-I-I….” Before I could get out the rest of the life changing phrase, he beat me to it and easily said “I love you too”.

That night, the night of the black out, is part of our history. Mine and Adrian’s. Not even a year later, in May of 2004, he took me back to Between The Bridges. Sadly it was demolished, a dirt lot. Now knowing what he took me there for, it must have felt like an omen. Luckily he’s not a bit superstitious and plan B kicked in. He led me to the Brooklyn Promenade near by and presented me with a ring and asked “Will you be my wife?”