Love
Connection CONTINUED
blew up that Exponent ad where it all began
as the cover for their wedding guest book.

Th ey resided in Queen Village until
2011 with daughter Maddie, who is now
settled in Nashville.

Th ey’ve been together through every-
thing: new jobs, synagogue life, travel, a
lot of moves, the loss of parents, the birth
of their daughter (also announced in the
Exponent). “It takes a close relationship,” Mike
said of the loss of both his parents within
a short time. “You’re dealing with some-
thing that you don’t want to deal with, but
it’s a part of life. I can’t imagine having
that and not having your best friend, who
happens to be your wife, get through that
[with you].”
“You need to know that you can lean on
each other,” Anne added.

Aft er 25 years of marriage, the jubilant
and ever-laughing couple said a lot of love,
tolerance and humor has kept them going.

It also helps that they’re not joined at
the hip (though it may sound like they
are). Th ey enjoy separate activities with
friends, but come back and share it with
each other.

“We don’t have to be with each other
24/7,” Mike said, which adds to a healthy
relationship. “I’ve known some couples that say,
‘Oh, we never fi ght. We do everything to-
gether. We like all the same things.’ And
I think to myself, ‘How boring is that!’”
Anne exclaimed.

Th e family continued to grow with each
new pet, too, with subtle persuasion by
Mike and Maddie. Th ey wore down Anne
with Oliver the pug, one of six in a litter.

“Th e only thing cuter than one pug
10 OCTOBER 26, 2017
SIMCHAS JEWISHEXPONENT.COM




puppy is six pug puppies,” she said adoringly, so they adopted the
one to join their three cats.

Expanding their musicality beyond the Dead, the pair later dis-
covered a mutual love of opera aft er a random splurge subscrip-
tion to Th e Met. Th ey’ve met tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido
Domingo, as well as soprano Denyce Graves of Carmen notoriety,
who Maddie — full name Madeline Denyce Garcia (aft er Anne’s
old roommate, not the Dead’s Jerry) Ginsberg — is named aft er.

Th ey don’t always agree on music, however. (AC/DC without
earplugs didn’t sit well with Anne.)
But when Metallica came to the Mann Center one season,
Anne told Mike “the only way I’m going to go with you” is if he
also bought tickets to the ballet.

“I thought, he’ll never agree to this,” she laughed. But Mike
showed up to her workplace with an envelope with four tickets: two
www.declarationofinvitations.com declarit@gmail.com
The family continued to grow
with each new pet, too, with
subtle persuasion by Mike and
Maddie. They wore down
Anne with Oliver the pug,
one of six in a litter.

for the ballet, two for Metallica.

“Well, I guess I gotta go now!”
Th ough he got rid of his
rocker demeanor, Mike has
since added a handful of tat-
toos to his look aft er his 40th
birthday, something he never
thought he’d do.

Maddie, now a 17-year-old
Mike and Anne Ginsberg
high school senior, plans to get
with daughter Maddie.

a matching one with her father
— most likely an infi nity sym-
bol with three hearts — once she turns 18.

All of their diff erent interests keep the family grounded.

“My dad used to say to me, ‘How can anyone get high on life?’”
Mike said. It may be a corny connotation, but he believes in the
statement. “Watching [Anne and Maddie] together, even if they’re
just sitting on the sofa hanging out, that’s the most important
thing in the world.”
Although they’ve grown together the past 25 years, Mike said
he doesn’t feel any older — and grateful they met each other when
they did rather than put up with the anxiety-producing dating app
era of today.

“We’ve been married fi ve years and we have 20 years of experi-
ence on top of it,” he joked.

“Sometimes I look at him and it’s like we just got married,
and sometimes I look at him and think it’s been 250 years,” Anne
laughed. “[But] when it’s the right person, you will know.”
Sometimes, that right person is a cat. ●
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