Central Park - NYC, New York - 1981

We live in an age where we don’t like locking ourselves in a relationship. We have many different words for different types of relationships, from “situationship” to “ghosting,” to give ourselves a way out of the stuffy feeling of being in a serious relationship.

Back in the day, my grandfather likes to say things were simpler. There were three categories of relationships: acquaintance, friend, and partner.

He likes to tell this story about his second date with my grandmother. The year was 1981, and the meeting place was Central Park benches by the 59th Street entrance.

He sat on one of the benches, ensuring a clear view of patrons walking to and from the park. Of course, being the gentleman that he is, he arrived 30 minutes earlier than the time they were supposed to meet. He had bought flowers and wore his best shoes. There were no cellphones or emails to speak of, so they had arranged a week before, under the careful and teasing vigilance of their parents and siblings, to meet.

She was running late. First, five minutes, then ten, then 20. He began to worry and stood up from the bench he was sitting on to look around for a payphone. Just then, he saw the unmistakable silhouette of my grandmother running toward the park's entrance.

Instead of running toward her, my grandfather ran deeper into the park in the opposite direction when he spotted her and hid behind one of the trees.

When my grandmother frantically started looking for him among the benches and people at the park entrance, my grandfather ran towards her.

He told her, “I’m so sorry for being late. Did you wait a long time?”

He told her the story a few years later when he proposed.

Whenever I see a young couple sitting on the benches, I catch glimpses of a more romantic time and hints of my grandparents.