By Ingrid Meulemans
meuleman@grinnell.edu
Abraham Teuber `22 and Noa Goldman `22 met in their NSO small group during August of their first year. “Noa lived on Cleve third,” Teuber said, “I lived on Cleve second.” They quickly became friends, and as they say, the rest is history.
When I, S&B features editor and acquaintance of Teuber and Goldman, visited their house this past week with a photographer, they immediately started offering us refreshments.
“Does anyone want anything?” asked Goldman. “A cup of water? Coffee?”
“Or,” Teuber adds, “Do you want a Peep that’s like, kind of, stale cause they’re better like that? Or a Hershey’s cookies and cream Easter egg?”
Once we finally settled in, Teuber and Goldman sat next to each other on the couch at the far end of the living room. Each held a decorative pillow embroidered with their name.
“I’ve had this pillow with my name and my birth date since I was, about, born,” said Goldman. “But when I moved in, Abraham had been here a couple of months, so I wanted to bring a little ‘welcome to the neighborhood’ present. So, I found this pillow in my basement and I sewed a little ‘Abraham’ on it.”
In addition to the colorful handmade pillows, the pair are surrounded by one-of-a-kind décor. On the built-in shelves that connect the kitchen to the living room, they’ve perched a painting of an old man against a stack of CDs.
“I like it,” said Teuber, “but I wasn’t crazy about it being a center piece. I didn’t want to offend you, though, because I thought it was your grandpa.”
Goldman has since confirmed to the S&B that the man is not her grandpa.
The portrait is, however, not the only old man in the house. The pair also have a sordid history with several wooden cutting boards engraved with the image of Bernie Sanders.
“One night I came home after a long day and Noa is already here,” begins Teuber. “And we have a little conversation, and then suddenly, she says ‘Abraham, I have something to tell you.’ And I say oh yeah? What’s up?”
“What happened,” says Goldman, “was I was cooking, and I sometimes don’t know if the burner is on, and so I put down this wooden cutting board, with this beautiful Bernie detailing on it, and I was so scared.”
“She just picks it up and goes, ‘I’m sorry I already bought you a new one,’” says Teuber.
According to Goldman, it was a “bad week for Noa and the fire department.”
“So,” says Teuber, “we have two Bernie Sanders wooden cutting boards, and that’s all you need to know about our politics. But so much can change in two years, you know with the pandemic and everything that’s going on, we both actually caucused for Warren. It’s my biggest regret,” he adds.
“It’s not my biggest regret,” said Goldman
“Thank god I redeemed myself by voting yes on union expansion,” said Teuber.
Between sharing these stories, Teuber and Goldman also filled me in on the various names of their home.
Although the US Postal Service may consider its formal address to be 1027 Elm St., the friends call their home The Comedy Club, The Rectory, The Hospice, The Circus and, most literally, the garage. “Because you need to walk through the garage to come in,” clarifies Teuber.
Although he’s technically lived there longer (Teuber stayed in Grinnell for a summer MAP), he insists that the apartment did not come to life until Goldman arrived in late August.
“It became so much more of a home when Noa finally came.”
