Kids & Family
The Love Story Hidden In The Walls Of The Waldorf Astoria
A couple hid a time capsule in the iconic Waldorf Astoria hotel on their anniversary. Here's how they got it back 10 years later.
For this month's Love In A Small Town feature, we asked Patch readers to tell us the story behind a specific spot in town where they fell in love. For Jennifer Boccagno, this spot was the Waldorf Astoria hotel. Here is her story:
“Our classic New York love story now has a cosmic twist. In times such as these in our world lately, nice surprises are rare. Also, your role in life, your whereabouts and history can lead you to interesting things and people.
The universe works in mysterious ways, and this morning it connected our family to a very special human being -- not only an extremely thoughtful one, but someone with whom we now share a very special date with: December 6, our wedding anniversary.
This morning I was contacted by Mr. Montano, a man who is currently working on the demolition project to gut the iconic Waldorf Astoria New York. Among the debris around him that once held the memories, secrets, stories and history of celebrities, presidents and royalty, he found ours among theirs.
Almost 10 years ago on our one-year wedding anniversary, Nick and I stayed in the same exact suite in the Waldorf Astoria Towers where we wed. When checking out that snowy winter afternoon, we left behind, rather hid, a time capsule in our suite.
In this capsule, we included our memories, our stories and our history. This morning, Mr. Montano found it, and found us.
As our universe is a good one, it's also troubling sometimes and not an easy one. This man reminded us there are good people in this world and somehow, in some way, we are all connected.
Upon his finding our time capsule, he then shared his own story with me, as December 6 is a special day for him as well. This was the day he was on his way home from a deployment with the US Navy aboard the USS Wasp to pick up the first V-22 Ospreys that were deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Most importantly, it was also his mother's birthday.
Worlds apart we were on this day, yet it's a day neither of our families will ever forget.
Thank you, Mr. Montano for your service to our country and for caring about others. Thank you for keeping our story alive. Only in New York...”
— Jennifer Boccagno
See all Patch reader love stories here.
For next month's Love In A Small Town feature, we want to know: Have you ever had a chance encounter with someone that led to love? Email your story to locallove@patch.com for the chance to be featured. Get more details here.
Photo: Tupungato/Shutterstock
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.