Norma & David

Mar 1, 2019 | Love Stories

June 1948 Brinley Beach Boardwalk, Bradley Beach NJ… I was walking the boards in the afternoon with my friend, Gloria Glassman. We joined a group of young people we knew. That was my first glimpse of David who was busily talking to anyone who would listen.

That night while talking to my unmarried, 6 year-old sister, I stated that I met the man I was going to marry. I was 15 years old, about to turn 16 in 1 month. She scoffed.

Our summer dating consisted of walking the boardwalk to Asbury Park – hanging out at Mike and Lou’s. Saturday nights were often spent at Paul’s Edgewater in Wanamassa and the Berkeley Carteret in Asbury Park. There were wonderful movie houses, including The Mayfair, St. James, and Paramount. But if possible we chose the Bradley Beach Palace for 22 cents.

From 1948-1953, David completed Lafayette College and Harvard Law School. Just before he was drafted in 1953, we married. Fast forward, David and I are celebrating over 63 years together.

Every summer of our lives was spent in Bradley. David’s family built 309 Ocean Ave in 1910. My family bought 215 Fourth in 1929. That has been sold and resold but 309 remains in the family. We bought it from our siblings. Our family considers our home a national park. They often tell us we can never sell it… except to family.

Schwarz Drug Store was the reason the family settled in Bradley. David’s grandfather was Sam Schwarz. He and his sons ran the drug store chain.

All of our children and many of our grandchildren summer with us.

Friends from Weequahic High School in Newark from 1940s to 1960s are always stopping by when they are in the area. They are amazed to find us still there…

Because of the polio scare in the 1940s, very intense in the Weequahic section, families went to Bradley, stayed in rooming houses where the dads came down on weekends. Many, many teenagers and college kids found the love of their lives there.

People still come back and are shocked to see us rocking on the porch.