For her birthday next week we will probably have a small private affair, though I suspect the local media will want to attend. There's not much new to tell, unfortunately, as she is unable to communicate anymore. When I visit her I just kiss her and stroke her hair, tell her that she's not forgotten...
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I wanted to share a funny anecdote about her, something that's not in her book. If you read the autobiography then you know she spent a full chapter talking about her friend Riza who was married to Josef von Sternberg. Apparently he was the stereotypical Rich Famous Egomaniac and Freddie helped Riza to divorce him. Not sure if this was mentioned in the book but the last part of the divorce agreement was for Riza to return to their mansion and take 'half' the artwork. Freddie went along to help and Riza told her to take one for herself, whatever she wanted. So, of course, Freddie picked a sketch by Van Gogh! For the next 50 or 70 years she thought that sketch was going to be her retirement
Skip forward to the 21st century when my mom and I took Freddie -- and her 'Van Gogh' -- to the Antiques Roadshow. They took one look at it under the microscope and declared it to be a copy. I had a turn at the scope and could clearly see tiny little dots of ink. Apparently they had xerox machines a hundred years ago, who knew?! Freddie was nonplussed so maybe she'd always suspected. My mom, however, was really upset
