Jef's Story....

Poor Dane. I told him I had to work early on a Saturday and that I would meet him at Double Wide Bar at 5:30pm and we'd walk down to Tompkins Square Park for Jordan's puppet show. And yes, it is not odd for us to expect one of our friends to do a guerilla-style puppet show performance in a park. ;)

Here is what really happened. About a week before the big day, Jordan sent a mass email to just Dane and me on bcc so it looked like a mass email about his show. 

On Saturday morning I met my brother Jeremy and his wife Tawyna at the airport at 9am, we dropped off their bags at the hotel, then ran around the city for a quick tour of the highlights. At 5pm everyone met at Tompkins Square Park for a rehearsal. Jordan Schulze directed the sign holders. Belinda Rao camped on the bench to hold it for us. Mark Snyder made the signs. My brother Jeremy Evans was my Watch Guardian/Watch Passer-offer (we didn't do rings), and my sis-in-law Tawyna Evans captured all of these beautiful moments while sitting in plain sight directly across from Dane and me.

The people you see holding the signs, along with Jeremy and Tawyna, are couples whose marriages inspire me. They demonstrate what it means to partner with someone, to be their best friend, and to love them no matter what. In order of appearance are Jen Bryars and Bart Bryars, Mark Snyder and Kevin Muth, and my soon-to-be Mothers-in-Law Ro Bondi and Eve Rivera. If you want to see Jeremy and Tawyna, they're in the photo from dinner.    

Dane's Story.....

I got this email invitation from Jordan for a “pop-up puppet show” and my first thought was, oh great! A chance to support one of my dear friends on one of his first post- college projects! My second thought was- ok Dane, let’s go into this with an open mind because this is about support after all… In the weeks leading up to August 22nd we visited his family in Florida. I got to see Jef’s father and his wife, his brother Rob and his family, and Jef’s Gammy who made me tear up a little because she remembered my birthday. Apparently they all knew what was about to happen the following week and they all did a great job keeping it a secret from me. Paybacks…

The following Friday we threw a rather large bbq at our house and many of our close friends showed up. I remember being quite disappointed when Jef announced that we needed to wrap up the party early because he had to work early the next morning. This was at a time when his job demanded a lot of his time so I didn’t think anything of it except that I had a bit of contempt for his employer. Apparently everyone at the bbq knew what was about to happen the next day except me. Paybacks…

The next morning I was not feeling well so I did nothing more than trek back and forth from the couch to the bathroom to “wash my hands”. I was secretly hoping that Jef would say that my presence wasn’t necessary at this puppet show because I was in bad shape from the night before, but I knew it was important for me to be there to support Jordan so I tough-guyed it out the door. We made arrangements to meet at Double Wide at 5 o’clock and then we would walk over to Tompkins Square Park together. Christen was working behind the bar when I got there so I waited for Jef to arrive. When we got to the park we sat at these benches which seemed random at the time but it was explained that there were no permits for this puppet show so they couldn’t have a formal seating area. Fine with me.

So in the distance a group of people started coming toward us (Belinda had stepped away quietly by this point) and it kinda reminded me of a scene from that movie “The Laramie Project” when the angels came out and blocked the protesters from the courthouse. “Oh, the puppet show must be starting”, I thought. They were carrying signs in front of them so I couldn’t see their faces. Ok, this must be the introduction and I have to do some reading to understand the scene. It took me until the end of the second sign to realize that something was very familiar about the text on the signs, and even then it didn’t totally register in my head what was happening. As I read on I began to read the third sign I started to question what was happening. That’s when Jef’s brother Jeremy handed Jef a box (I didn’t realize it was Jeremy yet). In the box was this beautiful watch. Still not knowing who was surrounding me, Jef kneels to one knee and proposes to me. I think I said, “Wait! I haven’t finished reading the cards yet!”, and then I said, “Yes, of course”.

It wasn’t until then that I realized that Jen was there, Bart was there, Kevin was there, Mark was there, Mom was there, Ro was there, and Jordan was there (it was his puppet show after all). Christen was also there. I learned then that she had left the bar right behind us and followed us at a distance all the way to the park. She left a regular in charge of the bar. Tawyna was there too. She was sitting across from us the whole time taking pictures of the event. There were guys playing music in the background and later I learned how they were acquired (thank you Ro).

My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you who were with us to celebrate our engagement.