Sandra Goldstein seems to consider life to be both an adventure and a learning experience as she walks along a variety of paths playing an assortment of roles.

Wife, mother, commercial Realtor, community activist, she grew up shouldering an inordinate share of family responsibility and has now willingly inherited the herculean task of preserving the beaches of Key Biscayne lest they drift out to sea.

"I studied the Kaballah, which is a Jewish book of wisdom and mysticism, and one thing that stuck with me was the idea of kavanah, which means that the intention you give something gives it its meaning," Sandra says, struggling a bit to translate a spiritual feeling into words.

"Intentions are more important than results and what develops inside of you projects outward. It's an alignment with a purpose, the means meaning more than the ends, the intent to do good things."

Sandra's good intentions these days are focused on the beach on the eastern shore of the island which, according to her and the engineers and environmentalists she's consulted, was mortally wounded long ago by the dredging of Government Cut, the shipping channel that runs from the Port of Miami to the Atlantic Ocean.

"The port is the main cause for beach erosion," she explains. "The dredged inlet keeps sand from making its normal migration of north to south, evident by the fact that The Sands (the condominium, where she lives) has lost 70 linear feet of beach since the 1987 renourishment."

Sandra says that she moved to Key Biscayne in the early 1990s to escape the rigors of a high-powered career and had no intention of leading a "save the beach" crusade. But about three years ago, she met a kindred spirit in Dr. Elliot Tyler, a neighbor who was an active member of the Florida Shore and Beach Preservation Association.

"He was very ill and I brought him microbiotic dishes which he thought might help his condition," she says. "We talked a lot on the phone and I caught his enthusiasm about the beach."

Eventually, Sandra helped to organize a surprise dedication ceremony honoring Dr. Tyler with a plaque on the beach. Though his strength was deteriorating rapidly, the ceremony seemed to revive him and he spoke for about half an hour.

"Later on, he told me, 'You should carry on with my work,'" she remembers. "It nagged at me for a while after he passed on, and I couldn't shirk off the responsibility. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was named the Village beach coordinator."

Since then, Sandra has used her skills as a businesswoman to galvanize people ranging from state and federal legislators to local residents, from Realtors to Rotarians, to take part in preserving the beaches.

"At a seminar, I heard Dr. James Houston give a talk on the economic impact of beaches and it made me jump out of my seat," Sandra says. "Once people are educated on what a valuable resource the beach is in dollars and cents, they're quick to come aboard. Believe it or not, the state spends more money on cotton and mohair industry subsidies than it does on beach preservation."

As president-elect of the Realtor's Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches, one of Sandra's first targets has been her fellow Realtors.

"Realtors know that properties won't sustain their value if the beach disappears and certainly won't sustain value in the event of a hurricane," she says. "Dunes will give 70 to 80 percent protection in the case of a storm surge."

The kick-off event for the local task force, the Beach Resource Management Advisory Group (BRM), was a June 28 dune planting on the beach by The Sands.

"At eight o'clock on a Saturday morning, people came from all over the Village to plant sea oats," she says, showing a picture of Councilmember Mort Fried on his hands and knees in the sand. "Mayor Festa, some of the Councilmembers, Village staff, Realtors, business people, kids, grandparents...they all came out. It's going to take a village to make it successful." It's also going to take some expert advice and long-range planning.

Sandra was instrumental in getting the Village Council to allocate funding for a 50-year beach renourishment study late last year. A presentation of the results was given to the Council at its Aug. 26 meeting, and a workshop was held in mid-September. The next main event will be a more extensive dune planting on Oct. 4, which will feature 150 people supplied by the Key Biscayne Chamber of Commerce and the Lipton Championships. Ultimately, the goal is to plant dunes from one end of the beach to the other, the entire length of Key Biscayne.

"Originally, the beach preservation program was titled 'Don't Kill the Golden Goose,' but I stopped using that title when people started calling me Mother Goose," she says with a laugh.

Though Sandra seems as though she'd make time for nursery rhymes these days, she didn't have much time for them as a child. She was born and raised in Pittsburgh, where her father held two jobs and her mother was chronically ill.

"My mom was sick a lot, so I had to learn to be responsible to my family at an early age," she says. "At seven I was going downtown to pay the bills. And I used to work in my dad's shoe repair shop. I remember taking money out of the register to buy candy next door. I considered that my salary."

She also cooked and cleaned and took care of her little sister, learning a work ethic at an early age that would serve her well later in life. Unlike others who had tough childhoods, Sandra doesn't dwell on things she might have missed.

"Did I miss my childhood?" she asks herself. "I never really thought about it because I never had a choice. But as an adult, I can do some of the things I missed. For example, I learned to ride a bike at 30 and had my bat mitzvah at 45."

Sandra's family moved to Miami in 1952, and she went to work right out of high school. She started in real estate, took a break to see her two sons past toddlerhood, and then re-entered the work force. Eventually, she opened up her own office in Coral Gables, Sandra Goldstein and Associates.

"One day someone came into the office and wanted to buy an apartment house," she says. "So I found one and realized how much more I enjoyed selling commercial real estate than houses. After that I went through an intensive course to become a certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM)."

In the meantime, her sons grew up. Michael is now an environmental attorney and activist living in Coconut Grove. Jonathan was heading to medical school but got sidetracked by a fascination with the Russian language and is currently in Russia finding good investments for venture capitalists.

"I learned that when your children are ready to do something, let them do it," she says, sounding very atypical for a Jewish mother. "The best lesson is to let them fail and develop the ability to bounce back. I tell my sons that bad things that happen in life are merely opportunities for change."

Sandra is proud of her sons, as well as her husband, Julian, whom she calls "a warm, caring, loving, non-judgmental type of person." He has supported her in all of her endeavors, even when it meant nurturing the children when she was devoting a lion's share of her energies to her business.

She also has a lot of respect and affection for the Village legislators and staff, particularly James DeCocq, the assistant Village manager who started out as a beach renourishment intern funded by the Rotary Club.

"James is a bright young man and a wonderful teacher," she says. "And he's very dedicated to the beach preservation program. The Village is very lucky to have him." It would appear that the Village is very lucky to have Sandra Goldstein as well. And the feeling seems to be mutual.

"With this beach business, I feel as though I'm a conduit through which this magical thing is happening, a whole community coming together to achieve a purpose," she says. "It goes beyond me and I'm being swept away with it. It's been a gift to my life because I meet and work with the most extraordinary people."

Sandra takes a walk down to the beach to check on the baby sea oats she and others from the Village planted last month. Admittedly, the sprouts resemble the first stages of a hair transplant. But she's delighted that they're standing on their own and looking healthy. She doffs her shoes, lets the sea breeze tousle her red hair and sighs.

"I always exhale when I come out here," she says. "It's a wonderful release." As she poses for pictures by the plaque honoring Dr. Tyler, it's evident that the beach is a breath of fresh air to Sandra Goldstein.

And Sandra Goldstein, in turn, is a breath of fresh air for Key Biscayne.