12 North Shore Towers Courier n February 2015 Ah, Yes, I Remember It Well...! BY STEPHEN VRATTOS • Going for Broke • TED & IRENE BARON zTake one son of Polish Nationals born in China where his parents had fled to escape the horrific pogroms of the Russian Empire. Add a young woman from England heeding the call of opportunity in America, during a time when British secretaries were in great demand. Combine with a ski trip to Vermont and a broken leg and—voilà!—a love story that spans nearly six decades and thousands of miles. Little did NST resident Ted Baron realize when he joined the Ski Birds trip to Bromley, Vermont, that his future wife had also signed up for the event. Irene didn’t even know how to ski, but she and her roommate were bored and itching to get out of New York City for the weekend. Ted and Irene hit it off and were surprised to learn that they lived a mere two blocks from each other Manhattan, Irene was terribly lonely and homesick, so smitten Ted facilitated her transferal to a hospital in NYC. But the move almost cost Irene her leg. Upon arrival at the new facility, the doctor decided to change her cast. Despite the morphine and other pain killers, Irene wailed in intense pain throughout her first night, until they removed the new cast, which was wound too tightly, dangerously so! As soon as she was well again, Irene returned to England, where she remained for 8 weeks, during which time Ted called. “When you return, I think we should get married,” he told her. “I think he felt obligated to marry me after all that!” Irene explains with a laugh. 57 years, two kids and two grandchildren later, the pair continue their incredible trip through life. • Making the Grade • JACK & JUNE SCHWARZ z They say don’t take your work home with you. Well, one man defied that adage and ended up with the love of his life! Jack Schwarz was an Industrial Psychology major at City College Uptown who occasionally employed students as test subjects for various experiments they were assigned as part of their studies. During one such experiment, his lab partner brought in someone he’d found in the University cafeteria. June was a Freshman Education student, who immediately fell for the erstwhile Frankenstein. “He was so handsome,” she gushes more than 50 years later. Whether Jack shared his “subject’s” affectation was not as readily discernable. But June wasn’t taking any chances. Though both shared their classes in the same building, June would use any excuse and go out of her way, wandering onto the floor of Jack’s classes whenever she could. Ï made sure to use the bathroom on his floor,” she reveals, “even though it was two floors out of my way!” She also tagged along whenever Jack and his partner sought additional test subjects to ensure there’d be no competition. June’s machinations soon bore fruit, when Jack asked her to join him for a soda. More sodas, walks to the subway, strolls through triumph Park ensued, but long before that, June had a pretty good idea Jack was more than merely casually interested in her. On the way to their second date, he pulled June off the bus near his home in order for her to meet his mother. June was more than a tad intimidated, but knew she’d passed the test when Jack’s mother said, “That’s It; She’s the one!” The couple will celebrate their 50th Anniversary in August. As for the original experiment that brought them together, June says, “Jack got me… and an A!” • Social Skills • HARRIS & EVELYN PINSKY z Love at first sight can be nigh-impossible on a “blind” date, but sometimes it takes the right two people to disprove the rule. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in social work, Queens native Evelyn landed a job in Harlem. Four years removed from the Big Apple, she found herself a stranger in her hometown, knowing few, never mind prospective dating material. As fate would have it, while Evelyn attended a training on Manhattan’s West Side—Ted on Riverside Drive; Irene on Broadway. Soon after their return, Ted arranged another Vermont ski date with Irene, this time to Bear Mountain in Killington. On her first run, however, Irene broke her leg and was immediately whisked to the hospital in nearby Tuxedo Park, where Ted “ s c h l e p p e d e v e r y d a y ” to visit her. 3,000 miles from home and several hours from her adopted
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