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2005-06-29 - 4:31 p.m.

This weekend I went to a wedding at a retreat/camp-type place in the deepest Berkshires, My friend Max got married. Max, who I�ve known over twenty years since we were ten. Max, who recently saved my life. Max, who was a hero of mine as a kid and maybe still is today. Got married.

When we were in like ninth grade, there were only three kids in our grade who could buy beer without getting carded. This was the pre-Giuliani New York and you didn�t so much have to look 21 as just look old enough that you wouldn�t get stupidly tanked and cause a ruckus and get the store in trouble. Plus, your money had to be green.

The three kids able to buy beer were me, Max, and this other guy. The other guy didn�t really look that old, but he�d scream at Korean grocers until they served him. Then he�d drink all the beer and disappear. Today, unsurprisingly, he�s a raging alcoholic.

I was shaving in like sixth-grade, so I looked �old enough�. I would go around and ask everyone what they wanted. I�d come back from the deli with some very elaborate order. People would yell at me that I�d gotten it wrong and refuse to pay (but probably drink the beer anyway). I�d end up like $20 poorer.

Max would go around and tell everyone what they were going to have. He�d collect the money beforehand, a dollar a beer. He�d buy Old English 800 at like 39 cents per can and pocket the difference. (I think he justified it by saying that, since he lived in Manhattan, he had to take a cab home from our parties in Brooklyn.) Stiffed or not, everyone was happy (and drunk).

Effectiveness. Entrepreneurial drive. Max got things done. He was far better than I was at this (certainly he did much better with the ladies). Making others happy while also taking care of yourself. I can�t think of anything stronger.

Today, he helps others very much. Never mind just carrying me to the hospital. He was an Outward Bound instructor for years (he sort of reinvented himself as an outdoorsy mountain man from a downtown city kid), leading troubled youth or just frazzled executives through dog sledding or canoe trips to discover their inner power.

He pulled out of going to Yale Business School at the last minute to found an organization starting a charter school. This was probably a choice informed by our somewhat crunchy school and I�m sure that he still wonders if he made the right decision, but what could possibly be more worthwhile?

Eve has been around a few years, but honestly Max has had a lot of various women in his life and I didn�t really pay her much attention. She�s beautiful and smart, but I wouldn�t really expect any less. But someone asked me if they were really soul mates. It occurred to me that she is as strong as he is.

A little while ago, they were at a dude ranch in Arizona. They were riding horses and trying to corral calves (I�m honestly a little hazy on this story). Max apparently just couldn�t do it. (I�m not surprised he couldn�t negotiate the fancy riding required; as a fellow city kid, I�m still amazed that he can drive a car.)

Eve however was able to pen numerous calves. Maneuvering a big-ass horse and roping other living things (okay, I don�t think a lasso was actually involved, but I can imagine) is just an incredibly impressive feat. Plus, y�know, cowgirls are just inherently sexy.

Max realized right there that if he was going to marry someone, it was this girl who could do what she�d just done. He proposed on the spot. (Oddly, these were probably the only two Jews in Nebraska or wherever they were�) I�d like to think he used a Cracker Jack ring, but he�s more than clever enough to improvise something far better.

Eve gets things done. She is as effective as Max. That they recognized this quality in each other is nothing short of magical. Soul mates? I don�t really know and that�s a bit of a hokey term. But certainly if you find yourself underage and in need of beer, I�d go to them first.

Eve is going to medical school in the fall. Max will be continuing to work on his charter school (fund them now!). I�m not sure exactly where they�ll be living, some non-profit-salary-rent section of Brooklyn, no doubt. But they will get things done. They are the strongest couple I know.

� 2005 Geoff Gladstone

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