The Most Romantic Subway Platform In Brooklyn

For this month's Love In A Small Town feature, we asked Patch readers to tell us the story behind their romantic chance encounters. This is Tom Swafford's story:

“Molly Davis was getting her taxes done in Park Slope, Brooklyn — a neighborhood she did not frequent.

Tom Swafford was playing violin at the 7th Avenue F stop in Park Slope. His usual spot was taken at the 7th Avenue Q stop so he thought, ‘I'll try the other 7th Avenue stop.’

Molly was running late for work since her taxes took so long; she heard the train coming and ran down the stairs only to see the F train doors closing in her face. As the rumble of the train faded away, Molly heard music coming from the other end of the platform so she thought, ‘I'll go listen — it sounds pretty good.’ As she got closer, her next thought was, ‘Oh, he is cute.’

She watched him play, paying special attention to his left hand. No ring. When he finished, they began talking about music. Molly explained that she had heard a folk duo the week before at a conference and this one song was beautiful. She played Tom a snippet of the song she recorded on her iPhone called Ashokan Farewell. Tom, impressed, asked, ‘That's really Jay Ungar playing?!’ They talked about contra dances and as the train was coming, Molly quickly grabbed his card and said, ‘I'll email you about those contra dances.’

As she entered the train, Tom played the first few notes of ‘Ashokan Farewell’ and Molly melted.

She got to work and stalked him online with her friend Diana. She sent him an email later that day with the subject: Ashokan Hello. Tom was pretty pleased and emailed her about his next few shows coming up. Molly's confidence waned but her friend Diana dragged her to Tom's show at The Living Room the following week. She was feeling like a stalker. At the end, Diana pushed Molly towards Tom, and she tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned, and she said, ‘Hi, I'm Molly from the subway.’ They proceeded to talk, and Diana excused herself for an early morning meeting. At the end of the night Molly asked Tom if he was single, and he replied yes. Molly said, ‘Do you want to go out some time?’ Tom said, ‘How about Saturday?’

They have been together ever since that day in 2012. Tom proposed to Molly this past summer and it was a surprise. He secretly contacted her cousin, a jeweler, to make an engagement ring. He got down on one knee at The Lobster Pot in Provincetown, Massachusetts (from her favorite movie Moonstruck). Molly said yes! They are getting married on Cape Cod this August.”

—Tom Swafford

See all Patch "chance encounters" here.

For next month's Love In A Small Town feature, we want to help you give Mom the best Mother's Day gift ever. Write her a heartfelt letter to tell her how much she means to you, email it to locallove@patch.com and we'll feature it in your town's newsfeed on Mother's Day. Get more details here.

Image Credit: Tom Swafford