Earlier this morning, I had the pleasure of meeting a lovely 99 year old artist named Desirée. Her story is as inspiring as they come!
Desirée originally comes from a Jewish family in Zagreb, Yugoslavia and when she was 19 (April 1941), she woke up to the sound of bombs from the Nazis, and was forced into camps in Italy where she spent 4 years.
She ended up being the only person in her family to make it out alive, and then immigrated to the United States to start a new life.
Desirée was always an artist as a child, but never had the opportunity to pursue her dreams because of her daunting childhood — so at 52 years young, she enrolled at Cal State Fullerton for her undergrad, and later received a masters in art.
She makes the most incredible ceramic pieces and displays them in art galleries as well as on her front porch. Not bad for someone who is about to turn 100!
I am so thankful that I was able to connect with Desirée — she is so sharp for her age and honestly is the happiest person I’ve ever met! I can’t wait to catch up with her in years to come.
