When her air conditioner broke, things got hotter

Harvey Starin initially considered Dorine Seidman, former president of their homeowners association, to be "tough and scary." That has changed.

In July 2019, after a committee meeting of their homeowners association, Dorine Ruth Seidman, 77, asked Harvey David Starin, 76 , if he wanted to dine at Papa Giuseppe's, an Italian restaurant in Delray Beach, Florida, where they both lived. Her invitation was done in a friendly way, without a hint of romance.

"I think she felt sorry for me," Mr. Starin, whose 43-year-old wife, Dottie Starin, had died two months earlier.

He and his wife had moved to their boating community in 2000 from Chester, N.J., while Mrs. Seidman and her husband, Bob Goldsteen, moved later that same year from Silver Spring, Md. After a 24-year marriage, her husband died in 2007, so she could relate to the grief of Mr. Starin.

Mr. Starin and Mr. Goldsteen both loved fishing, and even went trolling together for mahi-mahi and bottom fishing for grouper and snapper.

Soon Mrs. Seidman and Mr. Starin were thinking nothing of taking a bite after a meeting, and a few months later they were even having a movie or two.

Mr. Starin, then the association's president, always viewed Ms. Seidman, a former association president, as "tough and scary," the perfect negotiator. (She's about 5-foot-2; he's six-foot.)

Mrs. Seidman retired as a legal adviser to Parisian hotel company Sodexo, which was originally part of Marriott Corporation, where she previously worked. She then did legal consulting based in Delray Beach. Ms. Seidman, who grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, graduated from Simmons College (now Simmons University) in Boston. She earned a master's degree from Teachers College at Columbia University and later a law degree from Georgetown.

Mr. Starin retired as General Manager of New Business Development in Holmdel, N.J., from Lucent Technologies/Bell Labs, the former telecommunications company. He then became a licensed real estate broker covering southern Palm Beach County for Realty Home Advisors in Boca Raton. He graduated with high honors from the University of Florida at Gainesville, where he also earned an M.B.A.

This fall, before the Jewish holidays, Ms. Seidman offered to get her a ticket, and did it, next to her and her friend in a synagogue in Boca Raton. He then joined them for a quick break after Yom Kippur at another friend's house. she recalled one guest request, to which Mr. Starin joked, "Not yet." "I lost my moves, but it worked."

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In October they had their first kiss as he left his house one evening. When his air conditioner broke later that month, she invited him to stay. Things quickly heated up.

"I was aware that he was recently widowed," she said. "I didn't want to rush things. He needed to heal and cry at his own pace. I didn't want to interfere in that. »

It was not a smooth transition for Mr. Starin. "My wife's death was relatively new," he said. “I had professional help. It was good when I realized there was someone who loved me and I loved very much and I could move on. Florida Keys in his old red BMW convertible, and they had a picnic on h...