Old Woman's Birthday Today is my landlady's birthday. She's 84. She is from an intelligent, well-educated Jewish family. She just told me how her family was taken away from Leningrad shortly before the beginning of its siege.She was five years old at that time. Fortunately, they escaped and avoid this horrifying drama. Nevertheless, some of her uncles died here exhausted by starvation and cold. She's still very curious and joyful, although I see that her age makes her weaker and more sentimental. Her friends pass away more often than it was a couple of years ago - that's why she often feels sick and sad. In everyday life she's quite funny if not stupid. I call her "princess" because she hardly knows how to cook or make the dishes - she got used to the fact that someone does all this. We've had tons of run-ins because of that, but I think it's all useless. This is how she was raised and it's late to change anything. Besides this shortcoming, it should be said that she's very kind and generous - exactly like that famous generation of people who restored this city after its ruining by the German invasion.