Community
Mazel Toy!
Charlotte and
Ron Goldstein
Build New Life
CARL WALDMAN
Special to the Jewish News
W
hen Ron Goldstein and
Charlotte Berman sepa-
rately turned to a
docent program a few
years back, their wounds were still
fresh. At the time, both had lost
their spouses and were in the midst
of rearranging their lives.
In a sense, becoming volunteer
docents at the Holocaust Memorial
Center in West Bloomfield was an
outlet to occupy some of their new-
found time. Little did they know that
by giving to others they would be
receiving the gift of each other.
Charlotte married Michael Berman
of Southfield in 1968. Born with a rare
heart problem, Berman was the first
child in the city of Detroit to have
open-heart surgery. Six months short of
Charlotte and Michael's 25th wedding
anniversary, in the summer of 1992,
Berman's heart finally gave up and
Charlotte found herself alone. "I have
no siblings and we did not have any
children," said Charlotte, "so it was a
very different kind of marriage."
Ron married Florence Orechkin in
1953. They had three children and
eight grandchildren. In the spring of
1995, during their annual road trip to
Massachusetts to be with their daughter
and grandchildren, Florence began hav-
ing trouble breathing in the hotel lobby.
Before EMS could help, Florence
was gone. It was one month before
their 42nd wedding anniversary.
Ron came home to a lonely
Farmington Hills house, with his
children in far-away cities.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Berman
decided to move on with her life.
She began taking docent classes at
the Holocaust Memorial Center. She
was inspired after visiting the muse-
um with a girlfriend. Ron Goldstein
began taking the same classes
months after Florence passed away.
Requirements to "graduate" from
the course include a walk-through
tour of the HMC. When it was time
to assign Ron's walk-through, Selma
Silverman, the program's administra-
tor, and Judy Miller, a course instruc-
tor, secretly thought Ron and
Charlotte might hit it off.
"We really had no intention of fixing
them up," said Silverman. "We just
thought they were two people with
common objectives. "We didn't want it
to be obvious, but we asked Charlotte
to call Ron to tell him he graduated"
and conduct his walk-through.
Charlotte patiently led him
through the tour and Ron extended
his thanks by inviting her to dinner.
Charlotte recalls a special moment
after that dinner. "I turned to Ron
and said, 'I do not know if I will see
you again, but let's make a pact that
both of us will hang in.'"
Over the next few months, their rela-
tionship continued with lengthy tele-
phone conversations. "We were compa-
ny for each other," said Ron, "especially
around 10 p.m. when we would find
ourselves openly talking about our
spouses and families.
"I had not asked anyone out on a
date in 45 years. I did not know what to
do in the '90s dating scene, but finally I
built up the courage to ask her out."
Married in the fall of 1997 at
Temple Israel, Ron, a 69-year-old
attorney, and Charlotte, -a 57-year-
old dental-office manager, live each
day to its fullest.
They have traveled to Toronto,
cruised through the Panama Canal and
in the Mediterranean, and plan to visit
Israel this fall.
"Charlotte and I have separate histo-
ries from our lives with our first spous-
es," said Ron, "but now we are making
our history together." And they are con-
tinuing as volunteer docents at the
Holocaust Memorial Center.
JN
❑
2/18
2000
51