Synagogues

Ir

t-J

r

r

Bu d

A friendship
ensues after
beginning in a
most unlikely
place.

Evelyn Pevos and
Cindy Gioia.

SHELLI DORFMAN

Editorial Assistant

s busloads of seniors and
volunteers gather to visit the
craves of loved ones on
unday, Sept. 19, the mor-
ing preceding Kol Nidre, it will mark
the one-year anniversary of a special
program that brought about a special
relationship.
It was last year's first Kever Avot
(Graves of Our Ancestors) program
that brought together Evelyn Pevos
and Cindy Gioia. Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield and the Ira Kaufman
Chapel in Southfield have teamed up
to offer the program, which finds
transportation for seniors wishing to
make cemetery visits.
When Kari Provizer, Temple Israel
Family Life Center director, sought
volunteers to accompany the seniors,
Gioia was one of the first to hear
about it. An administrative secretary
to the board of directors and execu-
tive director of Temple Israel, Gioia
was attracted by the program's catch
phrase: "a mitzvah of a lifetime."
Gioia says that the loss of her
mother, two aunts and a close older
friend, helped her make the decision

At

to volunteer.
Residents of Jewish Apartments
and Services facilities in West
Bloomfield and Oak Park and the
Fleischman Residence in West
Bloomfield were invited to participate ,
in the new program. Pevos, living in
the Lillian and Samuel Hechtman I
Jewish Apartments in West
Bloomfield, says her son who normal-
ly drives her was out of town, leaving
her unable to go to the cemetery,
which is why she "signed up."
Last year on the Sunday between
Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur,
when 25 seniors paired with volun-
teers, received graveside prayer sheets
and maps marking graves to be visit-
ed, Pevos and Gioia found themselves
a team. When it turned out that
Pevos was the only one registered to
visit the Clover Hill Park Cemetery in
Birmingham, the most convenient
solution appeared to be for the two to
drive separately rather than ride a
group bus. With the Ira Kaufman
Chapel providing the buses, "Mr.
(Herbert) Kaufman offered me his
car," Gioia says, but the two decided
instead to "drive in my little Mazda

. Rx.

Once at the cemetery, Pevos says

she visited graves of her parents, hus-
band, sisters Janet and Doris and
brother-in-law Lester.
Gioia was impressed with Pevos,
her bounce and quick mind, disre-
garding the carefully marked map and
knowing "right where to go, where to
turn and the shortest cut to each
grave." She enjoyed how Pevos
jumped in and out of the car, which
was maybe eight inches off the
ground, faster than I, with no cane,
no walker," leading the way "in the
soft ground, walking like crazy in her
little heels."
From the moment they entered the
little sports car, the two agree, it was
friendship at first sight.
Gioia says they "talked a long time
on the way, went to the cemetery to
say the prayers, left the stones and hit
it off so well, went from there to
Crowley's" department store to go
shopping.
During the year their friendship
has blossomed, Gioia describes how
they phone and meet to "talk about
politics, religion, family and men."
Calling Pevos "a real plus in my life,"
Gioia said she looks forward to show-
ing Pevos her new Bloomfield Hills
home.

Gioia calls her 84-year-old friend
"delightful, vibrant, beautiful, good-
natured, so much fun and a handful
— which is a wonderful thing,"
adding, "would that I could be like
that at that age — at this age even."
Pevos, self-described as an indepen-
dent "little blonde," volunteers at the
Fleischman Residence, watches hock-
ey, goes to Tigers games, and enjoys
her new friendship. She calls Gioia a
precious, understanding person," and
describes their relationship as two
people who "took to each other like
glue."
Pevos says this year she will add her
recently deceased brother to those whose
graves she will visit, but will not even
ask her son to take her. The two women
will again participate in the Kever Avot
program, but not as a volunteer accom-
panying a senior without transportation.
Gioia says, "We're friends, we share
secrets. She's my buddy." 1-1

"

For information on the Sunday,
Sept. 19, Kever Avot program,
call Kari Provizer at Temple
Israel, (248) 661-5700.

9/10
1999

Detroit Jewish News

142