I remember sitting in the school cafeteria during the Summer of 2004. We had all just arrived. Fresh faces, bright eyes, and endless expectations. I sat across from Erica and I knew immediately that I liked her. She was kind and intelligent--truly lovely. She asked me if I had a boyfriend and I had come to New York dating a guy who already lived there, so I replied yes. And she went on to tell me about her boyfriend, Chris.
I remember sitting in Arte around the Corner in the fall of 2007. I sat across from Erica. Celebrating both of our birthdays we drank biodynamic wine and talked about boys and sex and school and love and the rest of our lives. I had long since moved on from my first New York City boyfriend, but Erica was still with Chris.
Chris would surprise Erica at school, waiting outside when we finished at eleven. He would come see the shows and sit on the end of the row (easy access to leave in case he got to nervous). He would cry with us and laugh with us. And he loved her all the while. And so we (Erica's friends) loved him for that.
He proposed last March, just before our graduation. I squealed like they do in the movies when Erica held up her hand.
And so they were married in City Hall this Friday. Erica wore her mother's wedding dress. And the figurines atop her cake originally belonged to her grandmother. Everything was steeped in history, a rich tradition. The restaurant where they held their reception, Five Front just under the Brooklyn Bridge, was the same place they had their first date. I can only imagine what it was like for Chris as he sat across from Erica that first time. And for Erica, sitting across from the man she would one day call her husband.
I can't wait for countless more meals, more glasses of biodynamic (giggle, giggle) wine, where I get to sit across from the two of them and watch their love--their marriage--grow and flourish.
