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- New York Times
Creating a Home and a Place for Art, Together
Samantha Rubin Katz and Alan Mark Paukman might have crossed paths several times before meeting in 2023. They both grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan; both own SoHo apartments three blocks from one another; both studied at Columbia at the same time; and both moved to New Orleans in the spring of 2023, just four blocks apart.
But they never met.
That changed at a mutual friend's birthday pool party in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans on May 27, 2023. The two say the only explanation is b'shert, a Yiddish word meaning destiny.
They only exchanged a few words at the pool party, but later that evening, Ms. Katz, 39, said, 'I felt so comfortable. I just went up to him and started dancing.' She recalled him saying, 'Hey, we should probably exchange numbers,' which they did.
The next day, both were headed to New York — she by plane, he by car. 'I told her to wave to me from the plane while I was driving,' Mr. Paukman, 38, said.
The two spent all of June in Manhattan, busy but keeping in touch via text. On June 20, 2023, they went on their first date: a sunset stroll through Central Park; a bike ride to see the Met Opera at SummerStage; dinner at Blue Ribbon Sushi, Ms. Katz's favorite sushi spot; and a first kiss under the disco ball at Lincoln Center.
'It all sounds dreamy and magical,' Mr. Paukman said. 'I did spend a week planning and charting that.'
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