Love Story: Irving and Enid Serota, East Meadow

Irving Serota of East Meadow recalls his college courtship of future wife Enid.

I met Enid in September 1952 in an English class at Brooklyn College. She missed the first day of class and the only seat left in the room was next to me. I was 19 and she was 17. She lived in Canarsie and I was from Crown Heights. We found we had a lot in common and became friendly. We started having lunch together or meeting between classes.

Enid belonged to Randall House, a group of girls with shared interests. I was a member of Beta Delta Mu fraternity. The two of us began arranging parties between both groups, mostly off campus. Everyone liked Enid.

In June 1953, I asked Enid to go steady and gave her my fraternity pin. When my parents threw her a surprise birthday party in February 1954, I gave her a second surprise. With both our families gathered around and in on the secret, I proposed.

We married on Dec. 25, 1954, at Temple Beth Jacob in Brooklyn. The following day, we attended the wedding of friends we knew at Brooklyn College. The bride had been Enid's maid of honor the night before and now Enid was her matron of honor. Since there was a break in classes, we were able to go away on a honeymoon in the Poconos, together with our newlywed friends.

Enid switched to evening classes and became a secretary at Meyer Handelman Co., an investment advisory firm in Manhattan. I graduated in January 1955 and began classes at New York University School of Law. In 1957, I was drafted into the Army. Enid and I were able to live off base after I was assigned to Fort Dix, New Jersey. When I received orders in November 1957 to go to Bad Nauheim, Germany, she was able to join me. I served as battalion mail clerk, then chief clerk for the Special Courts and Boards, advising on courts-martial and processing marriage applications. During that time, we were able to travel on our limited budget to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Frankfurt and Mannheim in Germany, Amsterdam, the Brussels World's Fair, Rome and Florence.

We returned to the United States in 1959, and after I was honorably discharged that year, I returned to NYU School of Law. I opened my own law firm in 1982. I am now semiretired. Enid returned to her old job. She resumed night school, now at the SUNY College at Old Westbury and received a bachelor's degree in business in 1985. She now works part-time at Meyer Handelman Co. in Westchester.

In 1972, we bought our home in East Meadow. We always look forward to seeing all of our family whenever we can. We have two sons, of whom we are very proud, a wonderful daughter-in-law and two terrific grandsons. Our other daughter-in-law, an exceptional woman, passed away in 2013.

We recently marked our 60th wedding anniversary. We hope to take a trip to celebrate in the very near future.