“I Eloped During the Russian Revolution.”

All rights @ Klaus Wright. Image description: The Hermitage Museum illuminated at night as seen from Palace Square. White columns and window frames against the pale yellow former palace stand out against a blue night sky. The massive museum and tremendous entrance arch reflect off rain-slick ground.

“I eloped during the Russian Revolution,” the old woman told me, smiling. “I was 16.”

“I have so many stories to tell you.”

I was 16 myself when this woman I didn’t know reached out and took me by the arm.

But I never listened.

I was a teenager waitressing in an old folks home after school. I always waitressed the…