A New Chapter

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“It bothers me tremendously. I never knew what is was like to be a child." (Larry Lesser)

"So, I worked with a woman named Florence and she said, “What are you doing on Thanksgiving?” And I said, “I’m going to go volunteer at the soup kitchen,” because the kids are with their father, and I don’t have anything to do. She said, “Oh, when you’re finished volunteering, come over for dinner.” As she said, “I’ve invited two of my children.” I said, “Great.” And her husband’s name was Norman, and Norman’s friend Larry – don’t get any ideas, Larry is not for you." I said, “Okay. Well, I’m not looking.” And so I went. My clothes were spattered with food from the soup kitchen, and I felt like I did my good deed. I felt really good about it, and I was in a good mood. And so I met Larry and, oh my, he smelled so good, he dressed so nice, and he was so handsome. And, really I liked him, but I wasn’t thinking anything romantic. I thought he is so interesting, so well spoken, so funny and he had such stories." (Sonya Braverman)

"So we started seeing each other and it became serious pretty rapidly. But, there’s no but. It was fun. I mean, we would be together a lot. Sometimes he would come over when I came home from work. We would make dinner and hang out, and he would go home. And then it got more serious, and I realized that maybe I liked him enough to consider this to be marriage material." (Sonya Braverman)

"I look back and know that he was absolutely terribly traumatized by his experience. And my therapist, Dr. Medvein, may he rest in peace, said, “Do you have any idea what you’re getting into?” And I said, “Well, he seems perfectly normal to me.” (Sonya Braverman)

“He lost his wife during open-heart surgery and was devastated. He didn’t have anyone and felt so at a loss.” (Sonya Braverman)

“He had terrible night terrors; he would rarely sleep and when he did, he would wake up screaming and crying.” (Sonya Braverman)

Editor’s Note: Larry met Sonya in 1986 after having moved back to Baltimore from Los Angeles more than a decade prior. They met at a restaurant via a mutual friend of Sonya and immediately became good friends; while Sonya initially was hesitant about getting romantically involved with Larry, she described him as being irresistibly charming and well dressed, and they quickly began dating. After having moved in with Larry a few years later, Sonya learned of Larry being a Holocaust survivor and began to witness how traumatized Larry was from it. The quotes above describe how despite being so in love, the relationship was often on edge due to Larry’s mental health; they frequently fought, and Larry often made Sonya leave, as he believed himself to be unlovable. Sonya refused to leave him and instead persevered to be with the man she truly loved. Larry and Sonya married in 1997, a second marriage for both of them, and stayed together until Larry’s death in 2014.