20 | JUNE 8 • 2023 

T

his story is one for the 
books!
In 1991, Paula 
then-Gottlieb went out with a 
bunch of friends and met Micki, 
who said, “Oh, you’re attending 
Michigan State? Do you know 
my brother Jeff?”
Paula laughed. “There are 
30,000 people who go there! No, 
I don’t know him!”
Paula was a serious student 
and dived into her studies. One 
small problem: the library. 
“The library was kind of like 
a bar, lots of people talking and 
hanging out,
” said Paula, who 
would greet her friends and then 
settle in the African section of 
the library, where no one else 
ever ventured, for some real 
studying.
One fine day, after Paula said 
hi to her friends, a guy started 
complaining that the library was 
too loud, and he couldn’t con-
centrate.

Deciding to be nice, Paula 
offered to share her quiet space, 
not really thinking he’
d take her 
up on it. 
“I was surprised when he 
actually stood up and started to 
walk over,
” remembered Paula, 
who raised her eyebrows at her 
friends as if to ask, “Is he safe?” 
They shrugged. 
But it was a moot point 
because the guy really did just 
want to study! He sat across 
from Paula in his fraternity 
baseball cap and neither said a 
word. After a few hours, Paula 
gathered her books and joked, 
“It was nice talking to you,
” got 
up and left. 
Still, Paula “had a feeling.
” So 
strong a feeling, in fact, that she 
called her mom to share that 
she’
d met the man who would 
one day be her husband. 
“Um, what?” her mom asked, 
so Paula explained what hap-
pened, and her mom laughed. 

“You don’t even know the guy’s 
name! You don’t know a single 
thing about him! There are 
30,000 people at Michigan State, 
how are you ever going to find 
him?!”
“I don’t know, but I will,
” 
Paula said blithely, and her 
mother said nothing more. After 
all, Paula was 19, she could cer-
tainly dream. 
A few days later, Paula spoke 
to her friend Gary on the phone 
and said, “Hey, I met a guy in 
your fraternity house.
”
“Nice!” Gary said. “Who?”
“No idea,
” Paula admitted. 
“Well, what does he look 
like?” Gary asked.
“Black hair, blue eyes and he 
was wearing a black baseball 
cap with your fraternity letters,
” 
Paula said. 
“I think that’s Chuck!” Gary 
said. 
Chuck? Hmm … Chuck was 
Paula’s dad’s name; she didn’t 
want to go out with someone 
who shared her dad’s name … 
but before she could warn Gary 
not to get any ideas, he said, 
“I’ve got call waiting, hang on a 
minute –”
“No, wait!” Paula said and 
quickly explained her concerns.
“His name’s not Chuck,
” Gary 
said enigmatically and hung up.
The following week, Paula 
attended a fraternity party where 
she was officially introduced 
to Chuck-who-wasn’t-really-
Chuck. (It was his fraternity 
nickname. His real name’s 
Jeffrey! Go figure.)
Unlike their first meeting, this 
time they actually talked and 
quickly discovered they’
d grown 
up just a few miles apart. They 
were even both members of 
Temple Beth El. Jeff mentioned 
he had a sister, Michelle, who 
was the same age as Paula. “Do 
you know her?”
“No,
” Paula said. It wasn’t 
until later when she realized that 
Jeff’s sister Michelle was her new 

friend Micki!
Ironically, at that same party, 
another fraternity brother asked 
Paula out, but she declined. “Just 
imagine! I ended up having a 
real all-American love story and 
that could have gone awry!” 
Paula says now. 
In 1994, Paula and Jeff mar-
ried — just like she’
d predicted 
after that first library meeting. 
 For their 25th wedding anni-
versary, Jeff planned a surprise 
wedding renewal on Maui, com-
plete with Hawaiian officiant, 
flowers, guests and reception. 
He even secretly flew in Paula’s 
original bridal gown and she 
was delighted to have another 
opportunity to wear it. 
Today they live in West 
Bloomfield. Paula works as a 
nurse in St. Joe’s in Pontiac, Jeff 
works in finance and they attend 
Temple Shir Shalom. They have 
two kids: Brendan, 22, who 
attends Michigan State, and 
Mari, 21, who attends the Ohio 
State University. 
“
And, of course, I urge them 
to go to the library every day!” 
Paula laughed. 

This column will appear biweekly. If 

you’d like to share your ‘meet-cute’ 

story, please email burstynwithjoy@

hotmail.com.

OUR COMMUNITY

‘At the Library’

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

HOW WE MET

Paula and 
Jeff Lynn

Paula and 
Jeff Lynn 
at their 
wedding.

