62 | SEPTEMBER 14 • 2023 

T

here’s something gutsy about start-
ing a new relationship … and some-
thing even gutsier about rekindling 
a relationship that had fizzled.
In June 1988, Wendy Cohen, then age 
27, moved from Niagara Falls, New York, 
to Detroit and was eager to make new local 
friends. She heard about a singles mixer at 
the former Embassy Suites in Southfield 
and turned up, scouting the room for 
someone who would fit the bill. 
Her eyes settled on Larry Kohlenberg. He 
was startled when a pretty and self-confi-
dent girl waltzed up to him out of the blue 
and announced, “Hi! I’m Wendy; I’m from 
out of town. I’m determined to make a new 
friend tonight, and that friend is you!” 
They danced together; later that night, 
they went out for ice cream. After a whirl-
wind nine-week courtship, they were 
engaged. 
“But fate had other plans,
” Wendy said. 
At the time, she was traveling for work 
several days a week, and their long-distance 

relationship proved too chal-
lenging for the young couple. 
After their breakup, both still 
lived in the same community, 
shared friends and ran into each 
other on occasion, which was awkward 
and painful. Wendy still recalls how she 
played mahj with some of Larry’s friends, 
who loved to regale her with stories of 
Larry’s dating life.
In 1991, after a few run-ins in a short 
period of time, Wendy accosted Larry: “
Are 
you following me?” 
Larry was flustered and started to turn 
away, but Wendy was friendly; and they 
started talking again. The two decided to 
rekindle their relationship.
“With one caveat,
” Wendy said. “No one 
could know.
” 
Her family had supported Wendy and 
helped her pick up the pieces when she’
d 
been shattered from their breakup two and 
a half years before — no way would her 
family endorse a reunion. 
Larry and Wendy kept up a secret rela-
tionship for two months, but by then Larry 
itched to “go public.
”
“First we’ll have to break it to my family,
” 
Wendy said nervously. 
Her family was together, so the time 
was definitely right, but how should she 
tell them? Wendy quietly fretted about 
what would be an appropriate time 
… so much so that her family finally 
confronted her, wanting to know why 
she wasn’t her usual cheerful self. 
“Don’t get mad,
” Wendy told them 
hesitantly. “But I reconnected with 
Larry. We’re happy together and our 
relationship is moving in a positive 
direction.
”
“Oh, that’s it!?” said Laurie, Wendy’s sis-
ter. “I already knew that! My friend told me 
she’
d seen you together!”
The family quickly accepted the idea; 

Wendy had worried for nothing! “
As long 
as I was happy, they were happy,
” she said.
A few months later, while at a family 
wedding, Larry slipped Wendy a piece of 
hotel stationery. On it, he’
d written, “Will 
you marry me?” and Wendy quietly agreed.
They married in June 1992 in Niagara 
Falls, settled in Walled Lake and later 
moved to West Bloomfield. They have two 
children, Jared, now age 29, who’s a finan-
cial adviser in Birmingham with Morgan 
Stanley, and Liza, now age 26, who’s a 
strategist for Yum Brands in California. 
The family are active members of Temple 
Israel. Wendy is a past sisterhood president 
and active on the North American Board of 
Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ). 
In 1999, Wendy retired from EDS (an 
information management company) and 
the true test of their marriage began when 
she began a new career as her husband’s 
office manager in his CPA practice. 
“Because how else would we see each 
other during tax season?” Larry joked. 
Now married for 31 years and filled with 
appreciation for their marriage and family, 
both Larry and Wendy are so grateful for 
the young Wendy who’
d been determined 
to make a friend … and that they had the 
guts to give their relationship another try all 
those years ago. 

This column will appear biweekly. If you’d like to 

share your ‘meet-cute’ story, please email 

burstynwithjoy@hotmail.com

OUR COMMUNITY

‘Rekindled
 Romance’

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

HOW WE MET

Larry and 
 Wendy in 
 their early
 days

The Kohlenberg 
family in August 2021

