Having recently moved back to New York City, Olga met Patrick on a new online dating app. They started chatting online and Patrick knew then he needed to meet Olga in person. Olga had reservations at first, but being the persistent person that he is, Patrick refused to take no for an answer. Soon after, they decided to meet up at Patrick’s favorite bar in the East Village.
So, there was Olga waiting at the East Village Irish pub called Plug Uglies. Patrick finally showed up, late (though not by much, he says), and they immediately began talking. “Since he basically insisted that we meet, I decided I would talk only about work,” Olga recalls. “I was so nervous, though, that I stared at his hands for most of the evening.”
Still, Olga and Patrick hit it off, and they agreed to meet again. And again and again until one day, they realized they were meant for each other. Somewhere along the line, Olga’s cat, Tonya, helped cement the couple’s lifelong bond.
“I once told him that Tonya and I are a two-for-one deal,” Olga says. “He told me that he knows, and over the next couple months he proceeded to learn the Russian words I use to talk to her, so that he can talk to her, too. I knew then that he was the one.”
One summer night, Patrick was set to propose. Engagement ring in pocket, he took Olga on a stroll through Central Park and ended up near the Bow Bridge, the finely wrought cast-iron span that has been the backdrop for several romantic movies and countless proposals. Patrick decided this was the perfect place and went on with the proposal in pitch darkness.
“It felt like an out-of-body experience,” says Olga, who stood in shock as Patrick proposed. “After the ring was on my finger, we were walking quietly and I told him he needed to redo the proposal because this was supposed to be a memorable moment and I didn’t get a chance to process anything.”
Patrick proposed a second time, this time with several onlookers watching. For good measure, he proposed a third time at Olga’s apartment, with Tonya watching. “Olga made me propose three separate times, and apparently wants to do it again twice more,” Patrick says.