Purpose Through Friendship
For Linda Nadler and Bette Moosebrugger, the Marcus JCC of Atlanta has been the foundation of an unexpected and cherished friendship.
Bette had lived in Atlanta for decades when she found herself navigating a new chapter of life. “I was married to my best friend, and he died a few years ago,” she shares. Added to retiring from a 41-year career, she felt lost and was looking for something to help her stay active and connected. “I heard about the SilverSneakers® fitness program, and the Marcus JCC was listed as an option” she said. “I went there, and I was really impressed with the friendliness of everybody and the way they treated me. I’m not Jewish, but they really made me feel welcome.”
For Linda, joining the Marcus JCC was an opportunity to stay physically active and reconnect with her Jewish roots. “I decided to go to the MJCCA for exercise and the Jewish connection,” she said. “It ended up being so much more.”
The two women first met through the Marcus JCC’s Dine Around Town group, which brings active seniors together for meals at local restaurants. “I was lonely and don’t like to go out alone at night,” Bette explains. “I heard about the dining club, so I started going. It was about the third one I went to when I happened to sit next to Linda.”
The two quickly discovered they had so much in common—both had wonderful marriages, but were now widows, and they happened to live a few blocks apart. “That started it,” Bette notes. “We said, ‘For the next function, why don’t we go together?’ And we did.”
Their friendship quickly grew. They became inseparable, attending other MJCCA programs, like exercise classes, author events, film screenings, Shabbat celebrations with Rabbi Glusman, and even a tomato-growing class, which turned into a friendly summer-long competition.
One particularly memorable experience was a guided nature walk for Tu B’Shvat. “[Rabbi Glusman] took a group of us into a forest,” Bette recalls. “He explained how the trees relate to our lives. It was fascinating.”
For Bette, the Marcus JCC has been life changing. “People always ask me, ‘Are you Jewish?’ I tell them, ‘No, I’m not—but I feel very comfortable and very welcome here.’ The Marcus JCC is for everyone.” Linda agrees.
“The MJCCA is part of my life now,” she says. “There’s always something to do, something to learn, and someone to meet.”
Despite living so close, their paths never crossed until the Marcus JCC brought them together. “We would have never met without the MJCCA,” Linda says. So, how do they see their friendship growing in the years to come? “Well, number one, we’re aging together,” Bette said with a laugh. “We just have fun together, and I don’t know how much closer we could be, considering all that we do!”
Their friendship is a testament to the Marcus JCC’s mission to bring people together—creating not just a community, but lifelong connections in the most unexpected ways.