Ladies meet in Agoura after 20 years as neighbors in New York

LONG TIME COMING- Even though they lived in the same building in Brooklyn, Frieda Tauber, left, and Lila Horowitz didn't meet until they moved to Agoura Hills Senior Retreat. The two are now close friends.

Lila Horowitz and Frieda Tauber became friends after meeting at the Agoura Hills Senior Retreat in spite of essentially living on top of each other for over 20 years on the east coast.

Both women had recently moved to the assisted living complex when Horowitz struck up a conversation with Tauber during dinner. "I recognized an accent similar to my own," said Horowitz. "Frieda told me she was from Brooklyn and I said 'So am I!'"

Tauber went on to say that she had lived on the 16th floor of complex number seven in Trump Village. "I nearly fell out of my chair," said Horowitz. "I had lived below her on the 15th floor!"

Both women were among the first families to move into Trump Village, developed by Fred Trump, father of businessman Donald Trump, when it opened in 1963. The complex was 23 floors and had over 500 apartments. "I was on the even floor and Lila was on the odd floor so we took different elevators," recalled Tauber.

Both women recalled their three bedroom apartments had a view of the Atlantic Ocean.

Although their apartments were identical, their lives were not. Horowitz was the wife of a successful plastics executive. She loved city life, socializing with friends and going to the theater.

Tauber, whose father was Horowitz's tailor, worked her way up from secretary to an industrial specialist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She described herself as a homebody. When she wasn't at work she was caring for her sick husband. "I never went out because most of my family had apartments in the complex, too," she said.

The women, now both widows in their 80s, believe fate led them to the Agoura Hills Senior Retreat, both having relocated from Florida to be with their families. They each have two children, an eldest daughter and a younger son who is an author. Both women were Florida snowbirds with homes 45 minutes apart from each other, and both are Jewish. Since meeting on the west coast they have become best friends.