There was French, Russian, Hebrew—all the languages she’d learned in her life, all mixed up in her head, you know? And then one day she chose a postcard from her collection—you remember, her collection of postcards with historic monuments on them.” “Just like Uncle Boris.” “Yes—that name sounds familiar; she must have told me about him. Anyway, she asked me to help her write those four names. I remember that she absolutely insisted on using a ballpoint pen. She wanted to be sure the ink wouldn’t fade or run. And then she said to me, ‘When I go to live with my daughter, I want you to send me
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