In the home they’ve rebuilt and raised their family, Sandy and Dave Anderson reminisce about their 51 years of marriage and what’s it been like to live in Orinda since 1975.
Two high school teachers meet in the early 1970s, build a home in the Orinda hills and 51 years later have two kids, four grandchildren and the wisdom to recognize that a long partnership takes recognizing and respecting one another’s differences.
Dave Anderson was a young history teacher at Ygnacio Valley High School when a colleague asked him to fill in at the last minute on an interview committee to hire a new social studies teacher. Sandy, who attended the University of Michigan and San Jose State, got the job. Within six months, Dave scored a date with her, inviting her to the play “The House of Blue Leaves” at San Francisco’s Geary
Theater.
The courtship progressed with a homemade dinner at Sandy’s where she invited another male colleague.
“That was just to make it look like she wasn’t asking me out,” said Dave, who can still recall the menu, “Grandma Rose’s meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans.”
Two months later, Dave proposed to Sandy. Six months after that, they married on June 17, 1973.
“We probably moved too fast,” laughed Sandy. “I’m not sure we knew each other all that well.”
Although they came from different family backgrounds, they quickly experienced working together, due to Dave’s diabetes.
“This disease is challenging and has often been stressful, but it’s required us to be a team,” said Dave.
Dave grew up in an unincorporated part of Walnut Creek, part of a Presbyterian, middle-class family. Sandy is a practicing reformed Jew from a well-to-do family in Oklahoma.
“We’re such different personalities,” said Sandy. “Although we’re both outgoing, my interests are in social justice, which often required me to travel. Dave’s interests are more confined.”
After seven years of teaching, Dave went to law school and created a career with PG&E. Sandy continued teaching for 12 more years at Northgate High School and then worked for the district in administration before switching to curriculum development for McGraw Hill.
As Peter and Robin, their two children, progressed through Orinda schools, Sandy was the first woman on the board for Orinda baseball. She then became the first woman president of the athletic boosters at Miramonte High School and continues to stay active with mahjong, mentoring and leading projects for Temple Isaiah in Lafayette.
“Honestly, she can herd cats,” said Dave.
Dave’s the treasurer for their Homeowners Association and the leader of Coffee Grinders, a men’s group that began 20 years ago and meets daily at Orinda coffee shops.
He’s outdoorsy, loves camping and skiing – she, not so much.
“For our wedding, he bought us a tent and sleeping bags,” said Sandy. “We tried camping near Tucson and it poured!”
Despite their differences, the two discovered that they were a good parenting team.
“No matter how busy we get, we always had dinner together,” said Sandy. “We both grew up that way and it’s how we raised our family.”
In Judaism there is a term, “tikkun olam,” which means repairing the world – something they both believe in whether it’s providing a home for a relative who needs a place to live, or Dave’s support of Sandy’s social outreach projects.
“I think our basic values, similar work ethic and outlook on life, have united us,” said Dave.
That and 49 years in a home they’ve enjoyed remodeling. Nestled in the Orinda hills and trees, they’ve been united in expanding it to suit their interests since they bought it in 1975.
“Our house is a reflection of the best of our relationship,” said Sandy.
