
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A New York City man has gone viral for sharing his story of love and loss on TikTok after the sudden passing of his fiance, bringing together a community of people working through grief of their own.
Jack Ciapciak began taking daily walks along the West Side Highway after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, inspiring his September 2022 proposal to his partner of seven years, Jack Lorentzen.
Ciapciak had noticed benches throughout Hudson River Park that were proposals, and thought it would be a surprising and special way to pop the question. He had a plaque made that said “Jack, will you marry me?,” and the two were quickly engaged.

“Unfortunately, he passed suddenly three months later of an undiagnosed heart condition, and I had to decide, you know, what to do with the bench,” Ciapciak told 1010 WINS. Lorentzen was 30 years old.
Noticing that Lorentzen’s friends were also visiting the bench, turning it into a memorial for his late partner, Ciapciak decided to make a permanent plaque to mark the spot. When considering what to write, he immediately thought of Lorentzen’s favorite quote from his favorite movie: Drew Barrymore romcom classic, “Never Been Kissed.”
The bench now reads “Find out who you are and try not to be afraid of it,” with Ciapciak telling 1010 WINS that “It’s how he lived his life.”
“He often spoke about how once he came out and started living his authentic life, everything fell into place,” Ciapciak said. “We met, he got the job of his dreams, so I thought it was a message that he would love for people to see when they walk by the bench and see his name.”

A little over two years after Lorentzen’s passing, Ciapciak began to feel like his grief was a burden to those around him (even though he is sure they didn’t feel that way). In looking for an outlet, he decided to begin posting on TikTok with a daily thought on grief, and found an audience.
“It found other people who were grieving, who felt like they were alone in their grief, or didn’t have people to talk to,” he said. “And so this beautiful thing started to happen, and then people started asking me, ‘What’s your story, and who did you lose?’ So I decided to share.”
Ciapciak said he’s been blown away by the response to something he decided to post on a “whim,” and the virality of his story. A TikTok video recounting the story of Lorentzen and the bench now has 10.5 million views, and Ciapciak’s account now has over 35,000 followers.
“When you lose someone, you want the whole world to stop and grieve with you. You know, your world has fallen apart, but it seems like everyone else’s just continues on,” he said. “And so the past few weeks, it’s felt like finally, the world is stopping and feeling my grief with me and remembering Jack. And it’s just been the most beautiful experience.”
The best part of this experience for Ciapciak has been getting responses from other people who are experiencing grief and hearing stories about their loved ones.
He plans to continue posting daily thoughts on grief on his account, and to begin an interview series on Jack’s bench, talking to others who have lost someone, so they too can share their stories.
“Grief can feel so isolating, but if there’s one takeaway, it’s that no one is alone,” Ciapciak said.