On April 25, 2017, Pery found Lara on two different dating sites, JDate and JSwipe. Her profile caught his eye because parts of it were virtually identical to his, namely their mutual love of Judaism, staunch Zionism, and dream to have a family and home in Israel. Pery didn't want to leave this meeting to chance. JSwipe's algorithm allows you to see your mutual friends, so Pery contacted the two friends they had in common and asked them to make personal introductions. On April 28th, Rachel and Joel emailed Lara glowing comments. After reading his profile, Lara was equally intrigued. Banter by way of Shakespearean prose and a plethora of puns followed, then nights of phone calls that lasted into the wee hours of the morning, and finally the grandest of gestures...
Pery and Lara hadn't yet met when Lara's birthday rolled around. They'd already had many long conversations, covering important ground, including their mutual love of Audrey Hepburn and ice cream. On May 5th, Lara's birthday, a huge, silver package arrived at her office. The whole office gathered around as Lara unpacked 1, 2, 3...10 pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream!!! Cookie crumbles, rainbow sprinkles, hot fudge and birthday candles - no detail was forgotten! But, who was it from? There was no note! Lara didn't expect anything from the fellow she'd never met. Just then, a text message arrived, "One wish for every pint." Swooning, little did she know her biggest wish was now coming true. Pery earned the name Glida Guy and whole office dug in! On May 11th, the two finally met. Pery surprised Lara with tickets to the NY Philharmonic's performance of "Breakfast at Tiffany's." It was magical and so was the conversation that shut down the bar afterward.
Pizza making, ice cream making, champagne sunrise strolls on the Brooklyn Bridge, trips to the theatre, and more - creative dates allowed Pery and Lara to see each other in a variety of situations. They liked what they saw! By their 10th date, the two realized they'd never simply gone out to dinner! So, in the grand tradition of Lara's parents and to fulfill a dream from Pery's Cardozo days, they finally had dinner together: kosher Chinese food. Tradition!
By now, Lara knew, loved and trusted Pery's creative surprises, so when he said, "Okay, I need your permission on this one..." it caught her attention. Skydiving: would she do it? Pery had already jumped twice before. He was in. Lara loved adventure, but also wanted to live. So, after some mild panic, a fair amount of research on skydiving death statistics (0.0007% go splat), and a pep-talk from her Krav Maga instructor, she agreed, and they both lived to tell the tale.
(To spare them tsuris, Moms and Dads only learned of the dalliance after the fact.)
Pery told Lara he'd handle Shabbat plans, as his apartment was already kashered for Pesach. "Meet me at the Museum of Jewish Heritage at 8pm," he relayed. They host meals periodically, so Lara thought nothing of it ... till she arrived to find the museum closed, doors shut with a padlock and chain! "Houston, we have a problem," she told him. Moments later, Pery appeared and whisked Lara away to the nearby Ritz Carlton hotel. Their top-floor room glowed. Lit candles lined the room, rose petals carpeted the floor, the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty shone in perfect view, and a Shabbat dinner for two was set. Surely, this idyllic scene was meant for a proposal! Pery saw the question in Lara's eyes, "Nope, but I do have something for you..." He pulled out an Israeli flag dress. "This will be great for Yom Ha'Atzmaut!" Lara said."Actually, I was thinking you'd wear it on Sunday to the show ... I have a matching blazer!" That's all it took to persuade Lara. "Okay, fun!" And so, she unwittingly walked right into the plan. Decoy Proposal #1 was a success - matzo ball soup and goulash à la Ritz!
On Sunday, March 25th, Pery and Lara met at Lincoln Center in their matching Israel outfits to see one of her favorite shows, "My Fair Lady." It was a stunning production that they fully enjoyed from their center seats. At intermission, Pery said, "Leave everything here and come with me." They dashed outside to the Lincoln Center fountain. Pery pointed Lara toward The Met. "Don't turn around until I tell you." When she turned to face the fountain, Pery took her hand and led her onto a bed of red rose petals that he'd scattered on the ground. People gathered around to watch the two dance. Serendipitously, a choir happened to be visiting and started to serenade the two "If I Loved You" from the musical Carousel. Lara felt like she was living in a movie! Was Pery about to propose now?! He saw the question in her eyes. "Nope, I just wanted to dance!" he said. The song ended, and everyone waited expectantly. "Time for Act II!" he shouted back to the onlookers as he and Lara waved goodbye and thank you and dashed back into the theatre. Once inside, people asked to take photos with the Zionist pair, and when Lara entered the theatre, she heard her name, "Lara! Lara!" More serendipity! Her aunt and cousin from Los Angeles happened to be in town and seeing the same show - their seats only one section away! If not for the loud outfit, they might not have found each other at all. Reliving the magical moments just prior, who could focus on Act II?!
After "My Fair Lady," Pery said he needed to deliver some work files to a colleague in Times Square. Off they went. Just as they found David and Judy, a band started playing "Fiddler on the Roof" - more serendipity! And then, people started dancing with Israeli flags to Israeli music! What crazy serendipity they were having today, Lara thought, after all, she happened to be wearing an Israeli dress!* "Wow, look how many people there are!" Lara said to Pery. "It's so deep - there have to be 200 people here! And even the Times Square characters are dancing with flags!" A decoy couple stood in front of the performance. Lara thought the dancing was for them! Even when the "bride" handed Lara her flowers, Lara thought, "Ok, kallah, I'll hold your flowers. Enjoy!" After the dancing ended, a long chuppah of flags formed in front of her. Lara couldn't resist and started to dance through them, but as someone pulled her back into position, she saw a line of friends coming toward her! What were they doing here?! Then she saw Pery's parents! And then her mom and brother in town from Texas! Now Lara understood what was happening and realized that this whole amazing scene was for her! The "Fiddler" band followed, playing a Chassidish wedding march, and then came the ultimate, romantic mastermind of it all, Pery. He got down on one knee, proposed in Hebrew first, using his phone, and then in English. Lara enthusiastically said YES and all of Times Square erupted into dance...again! Israeli flags waved, mazal tov music blared, and family, friends and strangers from around the world celebrated with Pery and Lara in this incredibly epic proposal!
*"How could you not know at that point?!" Pery later asked. "I just don't assume flash mobs are for me!" Lara would explain...and explain...and explain...
A few weeks after their engagement, Lara moved into a new apartment. While packing, she found a photo album from her sophomore year of college at NYU when she was living downtown in the financial district. For some reason, she'd taken a photo of herself pointing to a building. Originally meant to highlight the strangeness of a piano player performing inside a McDonalds, she had actually circled the building's address and carried this photo around with her from NYC to LA to Dallas and back to NYC. The circled building is Pery's current office building! And her caption, "K?" Could it have been referring to Krinsky!? It was one of many winks from Hashem.