Love Story: Sondra and Alvin Ogurek

Sondra Ogurek of Lynbrook recalls the night she met and fell in love with her husband, Alvin.

It was the night before Thanksgiving 1955. I was 20 years old. A friend of mine called to say that a few of the girls were going to a dance at the Rego Park Jewish Center in Queens. I lived in Borough Park, Brooklyn, and had just come home from work in Manhattan. I was tired and thought I'd rather just stay home. My mother, however, encouraged me to go to the dance. "After all," she explained to me, "if you don't go out with the girls, maybe they won't invite you next time." We took the subway from Brooklyn to Queens.

Once we got there, a handsome young man asked me to dance. His name was Alvin, he was 25, and had a crew cut and blue eyes. After our first dance, we didn't dance with anyone else the whole night. We talked until they were closing down the place.

Alvin was disappointed that he didn't have his car there that night, so he couldn't drive me home. He took my phone number and promised to call.

When my mother asked how the dance went, I told her I'd met a wonderful man but didn't expect to hear from him again. That was because Alvin had told me he lived in Freeport. I didn't really know where that was, but I was sure it was too far away from Brooklyn for him to want to date me! To my surprise, Alvin called before Thanksgiving weekend was over, and we went out the following Saturday.

From that time on, we didn't date anyone else, with the exception of New Year's Eve. You see, in those days, you made plans for New Year's Eve long in advance. When I met Alvin, I had already accepted a date with someone else and felt I had to keep my commitment. Alvin was very understanding.

On our next date, just after New Year's, Alvin asked me to marry him, and I accepted.

We were married a few months later, on June 24, 1956. We lived in Freeport for 15 years, then Merrick for 22 years, and we have been in Lynbrook for the past 17 years. We raised three children and have seven grandchildren. Alvin worked as a construction supervisor and retired in 1995. I worked in circulation at the Merrick Library before retiring in 2002.

This year, we will celebrate our 55th wedding anniversary. None of this would have been possible if I hadn't listened to my mother.