PHOTO BY DANIEL LIPPITT

Mark and Teri Goodman
renewed their vows.

It took only
one date for
Mark and Teri
Goodman to
realize they
were meant to
be together.

MARA REINSTEIN

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Short And Sweet

was a beautiful cere-
mony.
The blushing bride, bou-
q
Tuet
quet
in hand, was escorted
down the aisle. Rabbi M.
Robert Syme officiated in Hebrew
and English under the chuppah.
The groom read his own vows,
telling the bride she was his "best
friend." They exchanged gold
bands. Friends and relatives cried
the whole time. At the end, the
wine glass was broken.
But Mark and Teri Goodman
weren't celebrating their wedding.
Instead, they were renewing their
vows on their 25th anniversary.
And the entire evening at the
Skyline Club in November 1994
was planned by Mr. Goodman as
a surprise gift to his wife.
"I had never been so stunned
in my entire life," says Teri Good-
man, looking at the pictures in
her commemorative photo album.
"He planned everything, down to
the stamps on the invitation. It
was really amazing because you
never imagine a husband doing
something like that."

Responds Mr. Goodman, "In
everyone's life there are nice
[things] and [there are] difficult
things, and Teri has been the sin-
gle individual who has supported
me all the way. This was my way
to show her that I really love her,
and if I had to do it all over again,
I would."
The Goodmans' first wedding
was in 1969, four years after they
met in the most unromantic of all
places: a drugstore.
Teri Lutren was looking for a
summer job after graduating from
Oak Park High School. Nobody
would hire her because of her lack
of experience, so her uncle
arranged an interview with his
friend, the owner of Franklin
Drugs in Farmington Hills.
During her cashier shifts, a
Farmington High School gradu-
ate named Mark often came in
and chatted with her. One day, he
asked her out. "He was charming,
good-looking and interesting, but
I didn't want to be picked up in
a drugstore, so I told him to look
me up in the phone book and call

AIN11111.1.1111111111111111P,-

me," she says.
Mr. Goodman was up to the
challenge. "She tore up my male
ego," he says. "But I pursued her
doggedly. She was easy to talk to,
pretty, and she really sparked my
interest."
She finally agreed to go out
with him, on a Sunday. They
went to see Cat Ballou at the Stu-
dio movie theater. It was only
their first date, but they knew it
wouldn't be their last.
"I walked away from the movie
thinking that I was going to mar-
ry this girl," Mr. Goodman recalls.
"He really swept me off my
feet," she says. "And I was so com-
fortable with him that I felt like I
had known him my whole life."
Their summer love temporari-
ly ended when Ms. Goodman
headed off to Michigan State Uni-
versity while Mr. Goodman re-
mained in town. They agreed to
see other people, yet every week-
end he would visit her.
"I couldn't wait to see him," she
says. "My brain told me not to get
tied down and to date others, [but]

matornit,

my heart told me that I
wanted to be with just
him."
After seven weeks, Ms.
Goodman followed her
heart. She came home to
be closer to Mr. Goodman.
They got engaged in 1968
and were married a year
later.
The Goodmans now re-
side in Franklin and have
two children, Amy, 24,
and Jeff, 21. Although
they have different view-
points on the recipe for a
successful marriage, one
word repeatedly comes
into the conversation:
love.
"You've got to love the
person you're married to,
give respect and let that
person be [his or her] own per-
son," says Mr. Goodman, who fix-
es cars and goes scuba-diving,
sans his wife.
"Communication and commit-
ment are so important," says Ms.
Goodman. "And you have to have
love and respect above all."
In fact, the couple haven't lost
their romantic ways. Mr. Good-
man, part-owner of the Eaton
Steel Company, still kisses his
wife goodbye every morning. Mrs.
Goodman likes to surprise him
with cookies and flowers at the of-
fice. They have regular candle-
light dinners.
Their favorite pastimes include
going out to the theater, dinner
and dancing. Through the years,
they've taken lessons to learn
every new craze from disco to
dirty dancing. They're currently ti
perfecting the tango.
CY )
Keeping the spark alive in mar- T -
riage is important, Mr. Goodman
says. "After a while, people start
to take each other for granted. It
takes effort, but you still need to a
court after marriage."
cc
Ms. Goodman agrees. "You've co
u,
got to keep things exciting and u_
unpredictable to have the ro-
mance."
After all, it takes two to
tango.

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