The beauty of Love is that there are no boundaries with it. Distance cannot stop the strength and endurance of this powerful emotion. How can two people born on opposite sides of the country, or planet for that matter come together and create a life long dream? Some say there are forces at work, fate maybe? No one really knows, but Love Conquers All!!
[Read more…] about Melissa & Aaron’s Wedding Trailer at Guastavino’s in Manhattan
How did you two meet Rodger?
It was November 27, 2003, after a great Thanskgiving dinner, we usually would invite friends over for desert and to socialize and hang out once again. My brother Rob invites his usual crew and I invite mine, except this time my close friend Dave wanted to know if he could bring along a friend of his as well. And while I’m game to meeting new people, especially from close friends, I could never had anticipated what happened next. Because in walks Michelle. No one there knew who she was or where she came from, but oh! What an impression she made, just by her presence! She had taken my breath away!
How did Rodger propose to you Michelle?
It was Saturday, September 06, 2014 and just a regular day in New York City. Rodger and I were going to celebrate my 30th birthday before my rooftop party that night. Rodger had a whole day of surprises in store and I was trying my hardest to figure them out. When we first arrived in the city he told me we were going straight to brunch. A short cab ride later, we pulled up to a fantastic restaurant called Alice’s Tea Cup. Since I’m an Alice in Wonderland addict, this was a perfect place for us to start the day. We enjoyed some finger sandwiches, giant scones, a lemon tart, and very delicious lavender earl grey tea.
We went for a short walk and then a cab ride to east 72nd street where we entered Central Park. It was a muggy and mostly sunny day. In other words, it was a great day for a stroll. Our first stop was at the Hans Christian Andersen statue. He is one of my favorite authors of childrens stories. Our second stop was the very famous Alice in Wonderland statue. Even though I am a self-proclaimed Alice addict, I had never been there and I was terribly excited. It was too hot to sit on or climb the statue, but Rodger and I walked around it, reading the different quotes from the book.
Since it was so muggy Rodger suggested that we take a rest on a bench nearby. He also thought that this would be the perfect time to give me my birthday gift. I unwraped a beautiful book that contained both stories Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. When I opened the cover there was card with an original poem by Rodger himself. He recorded me while I read it aloud. It was a romantic poem that told the story of us and of time. After I read the poem Rodger wanted me to read the first chapter of the book since we were at the Alice statue. As soon as I turned to chapter one, I saw the most beautiful ring just sitting there in the hollowed out book. He then got down on one knee and told me how much he loved me and asked me to be his wife. Of course I said yes!!
To kill time before dinner we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For dinner Rodger took me to the restaurant Sarabeths. When we got there it was an engagement dinner with both of our families there to help celebrate. And my rooftop birthday party with friends became our impromtu engagement party.
How did you meet?
My father introduced us. Adele being from China and I from the US our pairing was unlikely at best. Adele was attending my alma mater Hofstra University for grad school and at the time my father and I were renting out houses near hofstra to students. She of course rented one of the rooms from us, meeting my father first and starting his best efforts to get us together.
How long have you been dating?
After knowing Adele for a little over a year, again fate put us together. She just graduated from Hofstra and had no place to stay and another year before going back to China. Who else, but my father of course, opened our home to her to stay while she figured things out. I actually was so against this because I knew how much my father wanted this union to happen, though he will deny it to this day that it was ever his intention to get us to date. On the advice of a friend of mine to stop being mad about it and actually see if this girl was worth at least hanging out with I decided why not, what’s the worst that could happen? Flash forward a year and I knew that in this unlikely person I had found my missing piece. The piece that suddenly got me thinking of family, of my future and making me feel I deserved only the best in life as she was the best thing to ever happen to me.
How did you propose?
We were on a trip to China and Adele’s visa actually expired. So if we wished to stay together it would have to be on a long distance, calculated plan on when and if we could see one another. So I purchased a ring secretly 4 months prior, and just waited and observed if Adele really would be the one. And being in China with her just reminded me of why I fell in love with her. Her dedication to her family, her selfless nature, her intoxicating laugh.
On the trip we traveled to a historical nature preserve in China, where we saw some of the most beautiful waterfalls, and mountain ranges in China. We climbed into this large stalactite cave, this dark wet cave, which I of course found romantic haha. But we were suddenly all alone. In this country of over 1 billion people, at this historical site where there were thousands visiting, we were the only two people there in this moment. I had purchased Adele a small leather diary during this trip in which she asked me to write a message to her on the first page. At this time I asked her to please read this message. She hesitantly agreed to, and while she read, distracted, I planted myself on one knee in front of her. While she read I pretended to be searching for something in my backpack, knowing exactly which pocket I needed to get into. As she concluded reading the page, I asked her to turn the page to see I had scribed, P.S I love you (reference to that awful movie, which she told me she loved) and I then presented the ring to her!
The rest is a little hazy because she did not say yes right away. All I remember was I was not going to stop talking until she did haha. Adele tells me the moment she said yes came after I said, I do not know where we are going to be (both lived in different worlds basically), I don’t know where in life we will be (we were both unemployed), but I knew I did not want to even think about doing anything with out her by my side. So she said yes!!
Venue: DeSeversky Mansion
