My Friend Alice

My Friend Alice…..

   Let me tell you about Alice.  She is not a newcomer to Seacrest, nevertheless she deserves acknowledgement.  Alice Morawetz, a treasured friend, an indefatigable Jewish woman who is dedicated to her Judaism and to friendship. She never hesitates to speak her mind, but in the friendliest possible way. Alice is soft spoken, you must pay attention when she speaks or you will miss her point and lose an interesting comment or suggestion!

   Alice has been living at Seacrest for thirteen years.  She knows her way around, but she rarely throws her weight around; she is modest, with her feet on the ground and confidence in her very being.  She is a reasonable and intelligent woman I am pleased to call friend.

   Alice came to this country from Vienna.  She landed in New York and was graduated from Queens College with a degree in early childhood education.  She met her husband, John at an Austrian-American gathering that she frequented.  Alice was nineteen and a half when they married.  She had entered college at sixteen, she apparently was years ahead of herself and agreed that that was socially challenging.  When she was at home raising daughter Mindy, the house and backyard were always filled with little kids.  So this creative woman developed a curriculum and had her own nursery school.  That playschool was outgrown in five years.

   After John died in 2007, it was time for Alice to, as she said,  “explore my creativity”.  She literally took a turn at every artistic possibility: oil painting, drawing, sculpture and writing.  She taught Yiddush for about four years, her classes were always full.  Her poetry and prose are writings that I have read and admired.  Two books: “A, My Name is Alice” and “Alice’s Looking Glass” are testaments to the creativity she was searching for.   In addition, Alice has been holding hands with David Alpert for more than five years.  Having a companion has not changed this quiet, modest woman although she is happier.

      Years ago, Alice and John had witnessed a program at Seacrest Village on one of their trips West.  They knew exactly where they wanted to go in California.  John, an economist with a doctorate worked for McGraw-Hill for 30 years in their information department.  He resigned his position when they followed the family to California, to Seacrest Village.  When John died in 2007, it took Alice a year to downsize.  They had valuable and precious art-work to sell, give away and let go.  She and John had been living in a two-bedroom apartment here that she no longer needed.  While wrestling with her grief Alice fell and broke her hip.  She is the most uncomplaining woman I know. She also does not brag.  I had to ask her if she had grandchildren: she has two, Talia, 19 and Jacob, 24.  She proudly smiled, said no more.

       As a poster woman for Seacrest Village, Alice Morawetz is content to fulfill her informal role as Seacrest’s ambassador to the Jewish community.  She seems to be happiest when she has successfully persuaded a friend to move to Seacrest Village in order to make responsibilities and loneliness vanish. She worked her magic on me, I am here and deeply grateful to Alice.

Agnes Herman for Seacrest Happenings   (3/16)