Lovers 

Looking out of a New York City restaurant window into a sea of people rushing to get warm and out of a winter freezer of snow and snowflakes. I saw a magical moment between two strangers. They danced and danced in the winter frenzy of a storm and looked the opposite of miserable and the definition of happy. I felt bad for staring at such a sight, but couldn’t believe my eyes as they waltzed past my window and out of sight. It reminded me of a Disney princess movie with a twist of an untold New York love story. My mind wandered into how they began dancing all of a sudden and how they must have not given the weather much thought to have simply not cared. They just wanted to dance as if no one paid attention and dance as if there was no time in the world almost as if time stopped. Almost like holding a snowball and shaking it only to watch the snowfall around them or winding your music box for the ballerina to spin to the song that played. I didn’t tell anyone around me what I witnessed in the moment and figured that no one would believe me. As I took in the hot chocolate and unheard symphony. In which the couple matched every single beat I heard in my head. I selfishly decided to keep their moment for myself as it was a one person show for a little girl who still had her innocence and looked at the world in wonder.  The woman reminded me of a ballerina and the man a prince, but without the ballerina bun and a sword attached to his hip. I believed that the couple was in love and nothing short of just friends as their breaths looked like smoke in the air every time they breathed. I imagine the winter representing hard times as their company and being together was all they needed to endure and be enough reassurance to get through it together. I believed they were not just in love, but in love with life, the city, and the fact that they had their whole lives together if they chose to. It reminded me of how it must have felt to have met your soulmate, best friend and lover all wrapped into a perfect gift. So perfect you could never see your life the same without them. It was a feeling I knew I wanted and couldn’t wait to experience as the movies and songs glorified a perfect moment that was waiting to be lived. I knew I wouldn’t turn into my favorite Disney princess in such a moment, but it made me happy that a connection with someone existed. Their waltz was a representation of a complex human connection that I got to see in real life with my own two eyes, and not just behind a screen or on a stage, but behind a window sitting in a red booth eating a pastry with a warm hot chocolate and music. Musicals showcase this moment in acting to make the audience feel as if they’re witnessing the real thing, but the real thing is far from what any audience member could envision. There is no band playing in a sectioned off orchestra or people dancing in the same tune or the same dance. There’s no change in setting or costumes, but instead people rushing by not stopping to think why in the hell they are dancing in cold ass weather. I was nothing but thankful to have seen a performance for free. As the city could surprise a kid or anyone just by walking a five minute radius to the deli or around the corner. I would best describe this memory as taking your headphones off during a music video in interruption just to go back and watch the moment again and claiming it as your favorite part and wishing it was you. My love for the arts blossomed from this moment and began my passion for entertainment. When someone asks how my love began for dancing and singing I struggle with telling them the story of the night I saw two strangers dancing. It is random as I had nothing, but a window to look out of and see the life of the city, but it’s a memory I never failed and chose not to forget. A believer would have been happy that happiness lies between people we already know to strangers we’ll probably never meet. It’s the things we do say and sometimes dance with no beat to in freezing weather that an on looker will remember the way we are with the people we love and their company.