Brooksby Neighbors Become Fast Friends and Share Stories

Margot Holender and Veronique Valdettaro became fast friends through Table Française, one of the many resident-led groups at Brooksby Village, an Erickson Senior Living community in Peabody, Mass.

"I met Margot at Table Française [French Table], a group of six people meeting every Wednesday evening to dine together at one of Brooksby's restaurants, where we speak only French," says Veronique.

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The two women, both originally from Paris, are native French speakers.

Touched by Margot's life story, including her years as a Jewish child hidden in France during World War II, Veronique encouraged her to write about her experiences. But Margot didn't believe anyone would be interested. "I told her, 'I am going to write it,'" Veronique recalls, with a smile. "And I did!"

Last summer, they collaborated on a bilingual French-English memoir, which has since been published and is now available on Amazon.

Home sweet home

Veronique, a longtime Boston-area resident, first heard about Brooksby years ago and always kept it in mind for retirement.

"I heard about Brooksby through a friend when I was in my 50s," she says. "I always thought, 'When I am ready, this will be the place I will go.'"

When Margot--also a longtime Boston-area resident--began exploring her senior living options, she was looking for a dog-friendly retirement community. Brooksby offered the perfect environment for both her and her furry companion.

Both women love the residences they chose. Veronique has found her studio home to be "very comfortable," and Margot settled into a one-bedroom home.

"With all the activities, restaurants, a swimming pool, and fitness equipment, I'm on vacation every day!" Veronique says.

Margot appreciates having an open living room, a large kitchen, and a patio. "I feel very safe," Margot says. "To me, that was important."

In Margot's post-WWII years, safety was a coveted priority, as she--and eventually her family--were secreted away in Saint-Saturnin, a small village about 160 miles from Paris, for four years during the war.

A chance for reflection

When Veronique and Margot met at Table Française, conversation was easy and they connected right away. "We began telling little pieces of our stories, little pieces of our lives," recalls Veronique.

Margot reached back to her early childhood years, which Veronique captured wonderfully in the memoir. She lived in Paris with her mother and father, Polish and Lithuanian immigrants, in a one-room flat in the Jewish Quarter known as The Pletzl.

In 1939, when she was just six years old, Margot was sent to Saint-Saturnin as part of a government-sponsored summer "fresh-air" program for poor children. But, when Hitler invaded Poland in September, sparking the war in Europe, there was no going home.

Separated from her parents, Margot lived in a small cottage for a year with a woman who also hosted another young girl. Eventually, her parents escaped Paris, walking and bicycling for eight days to reach their precious daughter.

Although most folks in the tiny town knew and accepted the Jewish family, they were still subject to fear and trauma, remaining in hiding during the Nazi occupation of France. One night, the French police took Margot's father away to Gurs, a notorious Nazi detention camp in the south of France. Surprising everyone, he was released a year later.

Finally, four years after Margot was sent away from her beloved hometown, Paris was liberated in August 1944, with victory in Europe declared in May 1945.

Safe, at last

For the rest of her life, in school, working in Paris, and then making the move to the U.S., where she married and raised a family, Margot never felt safe enough to publicly acknowledge her Jewish identity.

It wasn't until her move to Brooksby that she finally felt completely safe. Now, she proudly wears her Star of David.

"Today, I live peacefully, surrounded by loving presences [at Brooksby]," Margot says, in the memoir. "The child I once was is never far. She still walks with me--but she is no longer afraid."

This feeling of safety is what led Margot to share her story with Veronique, who--through many conversations, all in French--gathered information and photos to complete a history of Margot's hidden childhood. Veronique then translated the story into English, producing a bilingual account of Margot's experiences.

"People need to know how it was during the war," Margot says. "When you talk to people, they listen, but some remember and some don't. When it's in a book, and you read the book, the book is there forever."

The memoir, published last year, continues to educate and inspire readers--as well as Margot's kind, cherished neighbors at Brooksby.

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By Susan Ingram