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We Never Knew

I read with interest the Dec. 26, 2019 obituary of Dr. Lee J. Goebel because it answered a lot of questions. Not that I knew her name, I recognized her face in the picture.

About 30 years ago on a rainy night, she rang our doorbell on Fair Street asking to borrow our phone to call the bus company, because she had left her blue raincoat on the bus and really wanted it back.

She made arrangements and the coat was delivered here the next day by the bus driver; we called her and she came and picked it up.

On the night in question, we offered to drive her home, but she kept saying “No.” Finally she said that we could take her as far as Adams Middle School. We did and introduced ourselves. When my late husband said “David Dushkin” she asked if he was related to the violinist Sam Dushkin. Yes—it was his favorite uncle and his son was named after him.

It was clear that she knew a lot about music and conversed about Stravinsky, who was a close friend and colleague of Sam and of all the people in their circle who were also known to my husband. She had a beautifully cultured way of speaking—she was clearly somebody who knew her way in the classical music world. We never knew where she lived or talked to her again. We saw her, of course, on her bike in her blue raincoat for many years.

Maria Dushkin

Guilford