40-YEAR-OLD SPARK STILL LIGHTS UP MARRIAGE.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

Steve Greenbaum is a hopeless romantic. Most husbands figure they're having a pretty good year if they remember all the biggies -- wife's birthday, Valentine's Day, wedding anniversary -- and take care of the ``honey do'' list.

But Greenbaum's raising the bar, guys. I thought I'd warn you.

Last Wednesday, Steve surprised his wife, Ruth, with flowers and a visit back to the spot where they first laid eyes on each other exactly 40 years earlier: the teachers' cafeteria at Monroe High School in North Hills.

Steve is a real estate agent now, but he was teaching English and literature back then. Ruth worked for the Girl Scouts, then later became a teacher herself.

The meeting was set up by Frema Rood, the school's drama teacher, who is now a psychologist. Ruth used to baby-sit Frema's kids when she was a teenager.

``Steve would always tell me he wasn't the marrying kind, that he'd never tie the knot,'' said Frema, joining the Greenbaums for lunch last week.

``I told him not to make rash statements, that I had someone I wanted him to meet. When I walked into the cafeteria that day with Ruth and saw the look on both their faces, I knew they were goners.''

Maybe it was the alpaca sweater with the plaid tie Steve was wearing, or his eyes; she can't remember exactly what, Ruth said. But there were definitely some sparks flying.

``We sat there for 40 minutes playing with our salads until the bell rang and Steve had to go back to class,'' she recalled.

``He called me for a date a week later, and I said no. I had been dating someone for four years, and I didn't know how to tell him I had met someone else. I was nervous.

``When Steve called again a few days later to see if I had changed my mind, I said yes.''

They went to the Troubadour nightclub to see singer Nina Simone on that first date in 1967. Just a few months later -- on St. Patrick's Day -- Steve popped the question he had thought he would never ask.

He didn't intend to propose in the fast lane of the Hollywood Freeway, but the words just flew out, he said.

``We were heading downtown to see the play `Romeo and Juliet' when I told Ruth I had thrown away my black book,'' Steve said.

``What are you saying?'' Ruth asked him.

``Will you marry me?'' he replied.

When she said yes, Steve pulled the car off the freeway at Highland Avenue and parked at the first spot he could find. They shared a long kiss.

And here they were last week walking back into the teachers' cafeteria at Monroe High where it all began -- the hopeless romantic and the former Girl Scout worker sitting at the same table. But on the table this time there was a big bouquet of flowers with an ``I love you'' note signed by Steve.

The couple hugged and took a long, fond look around the room, then headed over to Rive Gauche in Sherman Oaks for lunch.

``The teachers' cafeteria was a dull, boring room 40 years ago, and it still is,'' Ruth said, smiling.

Yeah, but the memories.

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

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Ruth and Steve Greenbaum met 40 years ago at Monroe High School. The meeting was set up by Frema Rood, then the school's drama teacher.