Ben Bostic and Laura Zych
Ben Bostic and Laura Zych
But after a chance meeting at a fellow survivor's party last July – Ben had ogled Laura before Flight 1549 took off, but never introduced himself – the pair fell head over heels in love. This past week they left on a 10-day cruise to the Caribbean, courtesy of the The Ellen DeGeneres Show, on which Ben appeared shortly after the crash.
"I wake up everyday and say, 'My God. I'm living a fairy tale,' " says Bostic, 39, of Charlotte.
Now their love story has become part of the "Miracle on the Hudson" – so dubbed after Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III safely landed the US Airways Airbus A320 on the Hudson shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, after a flock of geese took out both engines.
Many of the 150 passengers, who were strangers that day, began to develop friendships with each other that are still going strong today. Still identifying one another by seat number, they've formed Facebook groups and e-mail chains, and every month or so the group of Charlotte survivors gets together at a local restaurant or a fellow passenger's house. They called their first gathering a "Celebrate Life" party.
When Laura Met Ben
Next month they'll meet in New York for the one-year anniversary of the crash, but last July survivor Kristy Spears (seat 8A) decided to hold a six-month reunion at her home near Charlotte."I walked in and Glenn Carlson [(seat 6B)], who I knew fairly well, was standing by Ben," says Laura, 31, a product manager for the Belk department stores. "He said, 'Laura. Have you met Ben?' And I said, 'Not officially. We're friends on Facebook.' Ben said, 'I haven't met Laura but I was checking her out on the plane.' "
They all laughed. Amy Jolly (seat 14C) and Laura had plans to go out after the party, and invited Ben along. He was due at his sister's cookout but met them later and, along with Laura, crashed at Amy's place. Ben and Laura stayed up talking until 6 a.m., even though Ben had to be at work at 8 a.m.
Since then the pair have been inseparable.
And Now?
So what does the future hold for this couple who have learned to take one day at a time?"I could see myself having this much fun with her 20 years from now," says Ben, director of software development at Lending Tree. "Right now I'm just enjoying it."
Laura agrees. "Sometimes when you're in a relationship you don't know if you want to commit to things a few months away but I recently asked him if he wanted to go to a Norah Jones concert with me in May and he said, 'Yeah.' We're just having a good time right now and are comfortable with where we're at."
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