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A love story about Jack Ciapciak, a New York City man, and his late fiancé, Jack Lorentzen, has moved the internet to tears. Ciapciak now takes regular strolls along the West Side Highway in Manhattan, where he once proposed to Lorentzen and dedicated a bench in his memory at Hudson River Park.
Unfortunately, before they could tie the knot, Jack Lorentzen died from an undiagnosed heart condition on Christmas Eve 2022, at the age of 30. He was on his way to visit his family when the tragedy struck. In a TikTok post shared by Ciapciak on February 26, 2025, which has since garnered over 10.2 million views, he shared:
“Two months before he died, I proposed to Jack by surprising him with a bench in Hudson River Park,” he explained.
The video post also revealed the plaque on the park bench that reads, “Jack, will you marry me? Love, Jack,” when Jack Ciapciak asked Jack Lorentzen to marry him in 2022. Now, the bench is dedicated to the latter and reads:
“In loving memory of Jack Lorentzen October 26, 1992 to December 24, 2022. Find out who you are and try not be afraid of it.”
The quote is from the late fiancé’s favorite Drew Barrymore romantic comedy and “comfort watch,” Never Been Kissed (1999). Since this love story went viral, the internet has been having emotional reactions. Here are some responses from under Jack Ciapciak’s post on TikTok:
In his post, Ciapciak, 32, explained that he chose a bench on the West Side Highway between W 12th Street and Bethune because it was right next to the LGBTQ+ Memorial overlooking Hoboken, making it symbolic.
Additionally, Jack Lorentzen lived there when the couple first crossed paths in early 2016. The TikTok post, which has garnered 1.7 million likes and 21,800 comments, concluded with a picture of the couple and the phrase, “I love you buddy,” written across it.
Exploring the love story of Jack Ciapciak and Jack Lorentzen
Late last month, Jack Ciapciak shared the story of his love and loss on TikTok. He mentioned that his partner of seven years, Jack Lorentzen, passed away unexpectedly from a cardiac disorder in 2022. He continues to grieve the loss while celebrating their love for each other. His post, titled “Jack Memorial Bench,” included the caption:
“This bench was supposed to be a happy place we’d visit on our walks in Hudson River Park and remember the night we got engaged… but fate had other plans. After Jack died, I dedicated the bench to him with a quote from his favorite @Drew Barrymore movie.”
It continued,
“Some days I cry on the bench, other days I smile. It’s my special place where I go when I need to sit and speak to him. I love you, Jack. I’ll never stop loving you.”
Ciapciak, a TV writer, met Jack Lorentzen through mutual friends, a pair of Kate, in January 2016. For their first date, they went for drinks at Finnerty’s in the East Village, according to the New York Post.
“All it took was one date and we both knew… this was special. I remember walking in and seeing him at the bar and just being blown away by (his) smile and his eyes. He was someone who just radiated such joy and happiness,” Ciapciak told TODAY in an interview on March 5, 2025.
“I remember he was drinking a beer, so I ordered a beer, even though I don’t even like beer. And I just remember sitting there and thinking, ‘Oh my God, this guy is so incredible and there’s no way he’s going to be into me,’” Ciapciak recalled.
He shared how they fell in love quickly and confessed their feelings to each other within three weeks. A year later, they decided to live together. Finally, in September 2022, Ciapciak proposed in front of the park bench.
“He looked at it and was totally shocked and caught off guard. We sat on the bench and cried. We kept walking, and I had both of our families waiting for us on a boat for a little sunset cruise,” Ciapciak told TODAY.
The couple had planned to get married in October 2023, and Ciapciak intended to change the bench plaque to read “Jack & Jack Oct. 14, 2023,” their chosen wedding date. Unfortunately, Jack Lorentzen died on December 24, 2022, as mentioned in the TikTok post.
Ciapciak told TODAY that he was “grieving my past with him, but I was also grieving my future. We never got to walk down the aisle and get married.” However, on October 14, 2023, Ciapciak gathered their loved ones in front of their park bench to honor his late partner on what would have been their wedding day.
Each day, Ciapciak visits the site and notices other couples leaving flowers and enjoying quality time together on the bench. A mutual friend even surprised him with a cake on his late fiancé’s birthday while Ciapciak and his friends got “yelled at” for illegally drinking in public, as shown in the TikTok slides. He shared that Jack Lorentzen would have "loved" it.
Ciapciak conveyed on social media that Jack Lorentzen “always said that once he came out and started living authentically, everything in his life fell into place.” That is why Ciapciak “decided this was the perfect message he’d want people walking by to see,” referencing the quote from Never Been Kissed that now appears on the plaque.
Jack Ciapciak began posting on TikTok about coping with grief in January this year. He shared that some days, he feels like his late fiancé says, “Hi to me when the sun shines down on the bench.” Ciapciak asks people to “walk down to the bench” and “visit Jack" whenever possible, adding, "Maybe you’ll see me."
He further told TODAY that sharing his story on social media and receiving love and support from the community made him feel “like I’m finding meaning in his death" for the first time.
“I never expected it to reach the audience it has. What’s blown me away is how many people are out there grieving on their own, and don’t have the support system that I have, and it’s just been so moving. You know, the fact that this seems to have been helping so many other people has brought me so much peace, and I’m really grateful for it,” he added.
Jack Ciapciak has responded positively to people asking him to write a book about his love story.
