Nadya and Jordache’s paths were destined to cross from the beginning. Nadya’s mother and Jordache’s father attended dental school together. Their families stayed friendly, and growing up they would occasionally bump into one another at family functions. Jordache even attended Nadya’s Sweet Sixteen. They both went off to separate colleges, but as fate would have it, one summer while Nadya was home during her sophomore year, she bumped into Jordache at an electronics store. After a few moments of blank stares, they recognized each other, got to talking, and exchanged numbers. He called her a few days later, and their true connection was born.
For their first date, Jordache took Nadya to the movies and afterward for a walk around a nearby lake.
“He showed me how to skip rocks,” says Nadya. “He was so nervous he couldn’t stop smiling. It was really cute. It was like being in a romance novel from the 1950s.”
The Proposal Story
Nadya, a surgical resident, came home one night exhausted after a 30-hour shift at the hospital to find that Jordache wasn’t home. He called her and told her to come up to the roof of their building. It was a snowy New Year’s Eve so she bundled up and ran upstairs. She opened the door to find a path of pink rose petals in the snow. Her heart racing, she followed the path around the corner to find Jordache dressed in a suit waiting for her with roses in his hand.
“He told me how much he loved me and that he wanted to marry me,” says Nadya. “He said he would do anything to make me happy and that he was honored to me as his girlfriend and his wife.”
Jordache then dropped to one knee and pulled out an engagement ring. Nadya, entranced by the sparkle of the ring under the starlight, was in utter disbelief. The pair had been together for seven years and she very much wanted this time to come.
“I asked him if he was serious and he started getting nervous,” Nadya remembers. “I had been waiting for so long for this moment, I just couldn’t believe that it was finally happening. I said yes and gave him a big kiss.”
Photos: Shira Weinberger