She sees the image of God in human beings even when they are not at their best, he remembered thinking.
"Are you a tourist?" he asked. She wasn't. But no matter. Four months later, they were married. The park's role in their unlikely meeting inspired my new book, Heart of the City, which conjures the true stories of nine couples whose matchmaker was in many ways the City of New York.
Not long ago, I asked my mother, now a retired social worker in Los Angeles, whether she still had those photos. She dug through some old files and found the contact sheets. For the first time, I understood what my father had meant.
I've gathered a few of the photos here -- some from the day my parents met, some from a return visit a year later.
(Click below for a full-screen view.)