Melissa and Jake first met in the summer of 2009 at a mutual friend’s party in Melissa’s hometown of Westfield, NJ – but it wasn’t until five years later that they serendipitously reconnected and began dating. At the time, they were both living on New York City’s Upper East Side, and, once again, it was a mutual connection who brought them together. One of Melissa’s high school friends had just moved into a vacant room in Jake’s apartment, and he took to Facebook to announce the news. Melissa’s comment welcoming her friend to the neighborhood caught Jake’s eye, and the rest, as they say, is history. A few text messages later, they arranged to meet for a drink at The Auction House on E 89th Street and immediately bonded over their mutual love of Blue Moon and The Shawshank Redemption. The more they got to know each other, the harder it was to keep them apart – and, over the course of the next six years, they built a very happy life together in NYC.

On May 30th, 2019 – just weeks before they were set to depart New York City for the west coast – Jake and Melissa headed to Carl Schurz Park, one of their favorite spots of the Upper East Side. Seeing as they only had a little time left before the move, Jake had asked Melissa to take the day off so they could enjoy a long weekend. Jake’s brother Alex had traveled in from Maine, and they all planned to spend that Friday on a kind of farewell tour, traveling around the city to visit some of Jake and Melissa’s favorite spots one last time. Carl Schurz Park was the first stop. Alex – who had graciously agreed to hide out and capture the big moment on camera – conveniently split off from the group under the guise of going to meet a friend for coffee. After grabbing his camera from his car, he ran to the park, scoped out a place in the bushes, and waited. Meanwhile, Jake spent the better part of 25 minutes dragging Melissa around the park looking for the perfect spot. If that wasn’t enough to tip her off that something was afoot, once they finally sat down, Jake – who hadn’t managed to get through a whole book since college – pulled out a novel and began reading. Talk about showing your hand. After a few minutes of this charade, Jake finally mustered up the courage to roll over onto one knee and ask Melissa if she would spend the rest of her life with him. Needless to say, she thankfully said yes. We even have the pictures to prove it.