Sen. Ben Cardin and his wife of 59 years, Myrna Edelman Cardin, tend to see eye to eye on most things. But there’s one issue on which they disagree — how they first met.
“We met in kindergarten,” insists Sen. Cardin (D-Maryland), who is retiring after five decades in politics. “Myrna was attracted to me immediately. It was the way I played in the sandbox that impressed her the most.”
Mrs. Cardin isn’t quite so sure things went down that way. While confirming she met her future husband in kindergarten at School 64 (now Liberty Elementary) in the Forest Park neighborhood, she isn’t convinced their love was sealed in a sandbox.
“I’m not sure our school had a sandbox,” she says. “Also, I don’t think I would have cared about a boy in kindergarten.”
Nonetheless, the Cardins, who live in Pikesville, today are among the best-known and most respected couples in Jewish Baltimore. And all would agree their partnership is a unique and special one.
The Cardins confirm they were part of the same group of friends by sixth grade at Garrison Junior High. Their friendship became romantic in 10th grade when he asked her to a party, and they dated steadily afterward.
After high school, Sen. Cardin left for the University of Pittsburgh while his future wife stayed local to attend Towson University.
“A good friend of mine went to Pitt and I said to her, ‘Harriet, make sure he doesn’t fall in love with anybody else,’” says Mrs. Cardin.
At Pitt, Sen. Cardin became active in campus politics and served as president of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. “I’d always had this political engagement,” he says. “My father [Judge Meyer Cardin] was engaged in politics. My uncle [Maurice Cardin] was engaged in politics. It was a way of life.”
In March of 1964, the Cardins became engaged at a Pitt “pinning ceremony” when he was a senior and she was a junior. The couple announced their engagement at the family’s Passover seder soon after.
“A few months before we got married, Ben called me,” Mrs. Cardin recalls. “He said, ‘I want to live a life like my parents. I want to keep a kosher home. I want to continue to be part of Beth Tfiloh, and I want to take trips when we have a family.’ Well, I grew up in a kosher home, so that’s fine. I grew up at Beth Tfiloh. I didn’t take trips like he did, so you better be sure I was good on that one.”
That September, Sen. Cardin started at the University of Maryland School of Law while his wife began her teaching career. They married on Nov. 24, 1964.
During his second year of law school, Sen. Cardin decided to run for the House of Delegates seat being vacated by his uncle, Maurice. He won the election, and his final semester of law school was spent traveling back and forth from Baltimore to Annapolis.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Cardin taught elementary school for two-and-a-half years before giving birth to their son, Michael, in 1967. The Cardins’ daughter, Deborah, was born two years later.
Over the years, Mrs. Cardin has been engaged in a variety of communal leadership roles, including serving as president of the Baltimore Jewish Council and the Jewish Community Center. Her volunteer activities outside of the Jewish community include fundraising for School 64 as well as chairing the board of visitors at Towson University.
In 1978, Sen. Cardin became speaker of the House of Delegates. From 1987 to 2006, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected to the Senate in 2006.
“There are a lot of myths about political life, that it’s all consuming,” he says. “But I came home every night. I had young children, and I wanted to be with my family. I made that judgment.”
Mrs. Cardin says her husband’s love of family is just one of the many things she admires about him.
“Ben has a couple of sayings that have rubbed off on me,” she says. “’We do something because it’s the right thing to do.’ And Ben feels strongly that one person can make a difference. That’s the kind of thing that has helped me grow and makes me love him every day.”
The senator praises his wife as “very intelligent — not just book smart, but reality [smart]. She’s great on advice and decision-making, It’s a great partnership. I’m proud of what she does. Myrna has done a lot in the community, in her leadership, throughout our marriage. We’re individuals, but we know we’re stronger together.”
The Cardins admit they’re not sure exactly what the post-political future holds for them.
“I have three things which Ben has heard ad nauseam,” Mrs. Cardin says. “The phone off his hip, no calendar and eating at a normal time. … I can’t wait to say yes to [friends] rather than no because everything is dependent on the Senate calendar.”
Sen. Cardin says he simply looks forward to spending more time with family. “I’m talking to other colleagues in similar situations, and they all advise, ‘Take your time,’” he says. “I know what I don’t want to do — be a paid gun or lobbyist, But I wouldn’t mind being on boards, teaching, think-tanks. But I may not do any of those. We’ll see.”
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