When Cody Bennett Ostry started his freshman yr of highschool in 2007, an older classmate caught his eye. Stephanie Winifred Brooks was a junior, and because the alphabet gods would say, her locker was just a few locations away from his.
“I do not know if it was simply the best way she dressed, how stunning she was, however coming in each morning and seeing her standing there, I made a decision to get to know her,” mentioned Mr Austrie, 31. “She was good sufficient to to know me, regardless that I used to be a younger scholar on the time.’
They had been college students within the American Research Excessive Faculty at Lehman Faculty, a specialised faculty within the Bronx. They grew to become buddies, speaking within the hallway, instantaneous messaging at night time, and hanging out after faculty. They took the identical route dwelling and shared many “stolen moments,” as Mr. Ostry now calls them, on the bus and at Dunkin’ Donuts, which was form of the midway level the place their paths dwelling diverged.
“I really feel like you are going to exit of your approach a bit bit since you should not have come dwelling like that,” Ms. Brooks, 33, mentioned with fun.
“I had about three or 4 other ways of getting dwelling,” replied Mr. Ostry. “I picked one of many ones you had been on, yeah.”
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Though they did not date in highschool — Ms. Brooks had a highschool boyfriend — they had been good buddies in the course of the two years they overlapped. He as soon as gave her a Valentine card, which she saved.
After highschool, they stayed in contact. They shared many frequent threads, typically with out realizing it, circling their lives like “ships passing within the night time,” Ms. Brooks mentioned. There have been flashes of romantic curiosity between them over time, however they did not reconnect till about 5 years in the past.
Within the late summer season of 2019, whereas catching up over textual content, the 2 realized they each labored at CBS in Manhattan. Ms. Brooks is at the moment an govt producer at CBS Information, and Mr. Austrie, who attended New York Metropolis Faculty of Expertise, is a technical engineer at Paramount, the mum or dad firm of CBS.
On the time, she had a second job as a resident director at Manhattan College, the place she earned a bachelor’s diploma in communications. With that and her nightly information shift, it was a problem to seek out time to get collectively, however they went forwards and backwards attempting to fulfill. Lastly, one night time in November, they met for dinner on the Santa Fe Grill, a Mexican restaurant within the Bronx close to her dorm.
After dinner, Mrs. Brooks invited Mr. Ostry to observe The Strolling Lifeless together with her. She was a faithful fan who watched the zombie horror sequence each week. As they watched collectively, Mr Ostry was “not too scared”, she mentioned. “That passes the check for me.”
They take into account tonight their “second first date” as a result of it got here after years of just about courting. After that, they began seeing one another extra. One night time on the subway after a date in December, Mr. Ostry realized he wished to marry her.
“I simply checked out her and held her shut, and I mentioned I believe that is it,” he mentioned, “and it scares me, however if you would like, then, , I might love so that you can stick round.
When the pandemic started, Ms. Brooks moved to an house within the Riverdale neighborhood, the place he got here to remain. They cooked collectively and listened to music, attending to know one another as adults. For her birthday in July 2020, he helped her cousin shock her with an outside get together in entrance of her constructing.
They made it a convention to return to the Santa Fe Grill to have a good time the anniversary of their “second first date.” On the fourth anniversary, in November 2023, Mr Ostry gathered family and friends on the restaurant and embellished it with round 80 pictures of them, together with two from their teenage years, shocked her with a celebration and a proposal.
She mentioned sure twice – as soon as to him and once more into the microphone for all to listen to. They celebrated with margaritas, karaoke and congas. “He actually knocked it out of the park simply with the care that went into arranging it,” Ms Brooks mentioned.
On August 15, the 2 had been married on the Glen Island Harbor Membership, an occasion venue in New Rochelle, New York, by their pal Wendy Bosch, who was ordained by Common Life Church for the event. The marriage cake featured 3-D printed figures of the couple as a cake topper. The visitor record of about 194 individuals included buddies from highschool and their chemistry instructor.
Weeks earlier than the marriage, they returned to their highschool, strolling the halls the place they first met. The principal gave them a faculty flag which they displayed at their wedding ceremony.
