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Yesterday, my beloved grandmother Emma Bruk died of #COVID19. Born in 1934, she did what most people of her generation couldn't do: she lived life on her own terms, without compromising her ideals or hopes, with an inner freedom that seems impossible for her era.
She was a cardiologist and many of her patients became her lifelong friends. Even after she retired at 77, she kept treating anyone who needed her help. She saw every concert, every exhibit, every play, followed the news, went to protests. (In 1991, she manned the barricades.)
"Moscow won't be the same without her," a friend said. And it's true. I can't imagine a city or a world without her endless energy, irrepressible optimism, her curiosity, and her lectures on Russian history, which, in her opinion, I did not understand. I can't believe she's gone.
A fuller tribute here. https://www.facebook.com/julia.ioffe.9/posts/10102070889876892
