A kiss, a tragedy and a 'miracle': Oakland fire victim's girlfriend finds support online

Saya Tomioka and her boyfriend, Griffin Maddens, share a kiss in New York City in 2015. After Maddens died in the Oakland fire, Tomioka set out to track down this photograph, which was shot by a photographer she didn't know. (Instagram: newyorkfaces)

In the days after Saya Tomioka lost her boyfriend in the Oakland fire, a horrific blaze that killed 36 people at a warehouse party last week, she wrote a Facebook plea for help.

She longed to see a photograph of her and her late boyfriend, Griffin Maddens, sharing a kiss in Times Square in the summer of 2015 – but she never got the name of the photographer who captured the fleeting embrace.

“I remember tears swelling my eyes because the city was so beautiful and amidst all the lights, I got to look at the brightest light of all, my sweetie,” she wrote in the post last Sunday. “I need some light right now ... I need a reminder of the brightest light of all – love.”

As if testing fate, she wrote: “Maybe some Facebook miracle could happen.”

Depending where you stand on miracles, that’s more or less what happened.

Friends and strangers quickly began sharing Tomioka’s note, with the post snowballing to more than 350 shares. The message eventually found its way to Arken Avan, a New York-based photographer who owns the Instagram account newyorkfaces, which shares tender moments captured on the streets of Manhattan.

Two of Avan’s friends showed him the post. On a hunch, he scoured through his archive of more than 200,000 photos. He eventually found the picture and posted it to Instagram on Thursday.

“I hope this beautiful moment in a photo will stay forever in your memory Saya, for a memory of [your] love, Griffin Madden,” he wrote in the post.

Tomioka later posted a follow-up note on Facebook thanking Avan for the photograph, which she said made her sob at first and then laugh “uncontrollably.”

“Life is so strange. I've lost you, but I've never felt stronger in my life. Through our many years of love and growth, I learned how to be strong from you,” she wrote.

She included a note penned directly to her late boyfriend, telling him that she is “at peace” and that she loved him “openly and endlessly” from the moment they met in university.

“Your love for me echoes through all the support I have been receiving from our friends and family,” she wrote.

Tomioka ended the post with a message of gratitude for all the people, both friends and strangers, who helped her in her time of need.

“Every message, every share, every comment mean the world to me. Thank you all for your kind and generous donations; we are so amazed. Thank you all for sharing your beautiful memories with Griffin, keeping his light alive.”