A friend, a woman in her 80s, has ended her life
I met her years ago in a local park. A casual conversation turned deeper when we learned that our families came from the same region of Europe.
She was a smart woman, actually far beyond smart, and I always looked forward to our conversations.
We'd meet in the park on just about a regular basis, and also, for lunch occasionally, and she had to be careful of what she ate because she was diabetic.
A couple of years ago, as the world started to become a darker place, she seemed to be turning sadder and depressed. While our conversations tended to focus on the arts, sciences, history, and so much more, we really never spoke of each others personal lives. It was an unspoken arrangement, but it just happened to turn out that way and it worked well.
One day last month, I made a mistake. I breached that wall of our personal lives. I asked her what was wrong.
She hesitated for a few moments and then she began to speak quietly.
Her entire family had died in the Holocaust. She had spent much of her life alone. And she feared what she saw/read/heard was now happening in America.
I asked her a few questions, but she shook me off. I can still remember most of her words. "Americans don't see it. I was a young girl and I didn't understand. But I remember. It's happening again."
I didn't see her for about a month after that. I knew where she lived and went over there. After knocking on a few doors, I found a neighbor who told me what had happened. She hadn't seen her for a while and then used the key she had.
My friend had died. It took a bit of time and money to learn that the cause of death was insulin overdose.
I've shed quite a few tears since. And I can't help but wonder if she didn't want to go the same way her family did.
= new reply since forum marked as read
times together bring you comfort 
.
My condolences.
... Trump came down the escalator must have been triggering for her.
My late in-laws were Holocaust survivors, and I remember talking with my MIL during Dubya's media-assisted rush to war. Special graphics, special theme music -- cable tv provided it all for free. She said it reminded her of Vienna in the 1930s, and it was awful. I'm glad they're not alive to witness the rise of Trump and Trumpism, because the signs of cataclysm are all there and unless we are very lucky indeed our republic will die.
Treasure the memories you have of your friend.
She sounded like a wonderful friend.
I also have older friends who are survivors of the war and its aftermath. One friend in particular is my dear friend from Yugoslavia who was only a child during the war, and the Communists killed her father and put her family into a concentration camp. So these were the good guys right? Wrong!
My friend is 84 now and she's had a happy life here in Pittsburgh, she married a wonderful caring man and they raised 6 great kids. But my friend still sometimes gets strange depressing thoughts about what she survived so many years ago. (It wasn't the Holocaust, and I recognize that that was far more horrible.) When my friend feels like talking then I listen, as friends do. But I try to cheer her up and not dwell on the past, and I bring her music or schnapps occasionally to brighten her mood.
It is possible that your friend did not take her own life intentionally, perhaps it was a mistaken overdose.
I am sorry for your loss.
Perhaps the greatest tribute that you (and even we who never knew her) can give is to spread her message.
May she rest in peace, and may you find peace as well.
this so sad. People who lived through the holocaust will never forget. They know the signs. Poor woman.
