Candace was raised in the Valley, a typical middle-class 91传媒 upbringing, where her family raised her with the hope that she鈥檇 do better financially than their generation. But she was never typical. She went to the first alternative college in the United States (Johnston College, now called Johnston Center for Integrative Studies, part of the University of Redlands), received a degree in criminology and got her first job working with street gangs 鈥� mainly teenagers ages 16 to 18.
鈥淲e did 30 hours in the office and then 30 hours on the street a week.鈥� If they heard about a fight, they鈥檇 do their best to stop it. 鈥淪ometimes you couldn鈥檛 prevent the fight, so you鈥檇 just take away the knives, guns and chains and make it as safe as possible for them to fight.鈥� I like this woman.
Because she loves traveling, she took a new job working for the Military-Industrial Complex. She took a course in sailing in the Dutch West Indies, where she met her now-deceased husband. 鈥淔our years later, we got married, and seven years after that he died. It was prostate cancer that had metastasized by the time they found it.鈥�
In 1983, they built their own house in a tiny town 60 miles east of Baker. 鈥淐owboys would come by and help.鈥� They picked up their mail in a town 21 miles away. The nearest phone was 21 miles in the other direction. 鈥淲e were hungry for pizza one night, so we went to get it 鈥� 154 miles away.鈥�
They later moved to Montana, where Candace took a job teaching and her husband worked as a packer. 鈥淚f you want to go hunting or camping and there鈥檚 no other way to get there but by horseback, [the packer] takes people in to the wilderness 鈥� the real wilderness 鈥� no phones, no electricity, nothing.鈥� Eventually they owned and operated a cow-calf operation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 where you raise the calves until they鈥檙e old enough to be sold for beef. People have a bad idea about feed lots, but you have to get your meat somehow.鈥�
After her husband died, she became very involved with the 91传媒 community in Montana. 鈥淪habbat dinners were usually at our house. There were 48 families. It was like the Frisco Kid. We had a traveling rebbe who came in every six weeks or so. And he had to accommodate everyone from Orthodox Jews to assimilated Jews.鈥�
After a stint in Oregon, she decided she needed to come back to where her family was, 鈥渁nd we moved into Thousand Oaks. It was great for [my daughter].鈥� When she first got there, Candace took a look at two identical houses and saw two people walking out of their front door pushing strollers at the same time. She thought, 鈥榃hat am I doing?鈥� I was a hippie, involved with the anti-war movement in the 鈥�70s … 鈥�
She鈥檚 settled now, working as an administrator for the BJE 鈥� Builders of 91传媒 Education. 鈥淚 work on two programs that help keep 91传媒 kids in 91传媒 day schools.鈥� But it鈥檚 been 19 years since her husband died, and she鈥檇 love to find another man.
The perfect man for Candace would be 鈥渁 doctor on a Harley who likes to get dressed up occasionally 鈥� as comfortable in jeans as he is in a tux. And he can have a ponytail. I would love to have somebody who has a sense of adventure because I鈥檇 love to own an RV and travel around the country. I鈥檇 love to go down to South America. He has to have a love of people because I talk to people a lot.鈥�
She doesn鈥檛 care about a man鈥檚 height or weight. 鈥淚s he athletic? There are other things that are more important. Is he a mensch?鈥� Then she adds, 鈥淏ut he does have to be financially self-sufficient. I鈥檓 not looking to take care of anybody.鈥�
If you鈥檙e interested in anyone you see on My Single Peeps, send an e-mail and a picture, including the person鈥檚 name in the subject line, to mysinglepeeps@jewishjournal.com, and we鈥檒l forward it to your favorite peep.
Seth Menachem is an actor and writer living in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. You can see more of his work on his Web site, , and meet even more single peeps at .
