She’s retired and lives alone, but there’s more to it than that.  A child of two Holocaust survivors (they survived Dachau), she says she’s been lonely for as long as she can remember.  But give her a chance and she’ll put you at ease – she’s a self-professed communicator. But this communicator made it clear she can’t stand small talk.  She loves to talk, sure, but only about the stuff that matters, coming across as equal parts shrewd survivor and hardened optimist. Talking with her is fun: she lunges at your awkward silences, keeping you on your feet.  And what at first seem like huffy declarations soon reveal themselves to be on-the-money anecdotes of a life lived on the harder-earned side.

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