Two people looked through one window.
One saw rain and mud.
The other – green ligature foliage,
Spring and blue sky.
Two people looked through one window…
From the series of articles «History of one family»
This story began in the 90s of the 20th century in the USSR. Then everything was coming to the collapse of the USSR. Products were disappeared off the shelves in stores, rations (food cards) were introduced and many families were forced to survive in those conditions. All professions in the USSR were divided into prestigious (for example, judges, government representatives, in trade – heads of stores, merchandisers) and less prestigious (for example, sellers, factory workers). For years people did not receive wages. The country had fallen into poverty. At the same time profitable connections (with trade workers as sellers, merchandisers, heads of stores) were already flourishing in trade. And factory workers did not see all of things in abundance and they were not satisfied with the life that was happening. It was Time of Changes.
When stores shelves were empty life continued. People got married and gave birth to children. All families resembled each other. Parents worked and children grew up. Only parents’ attitude towards their children was different and people had different values.
So, two working families met and attracted to each other as different poles. They seemed to be similar from the outside looking in and they even were in-laws (Maya was a godmother to Maria’s youngest daughter Vera), but very different. Different floors of their flats, different number of children (in one family there were two girls and in the other — a boy), different values.
Mother Maya had a small son Sasha and worked as a bailiff. The mother of another family Maria (she had the girls: Lyubov and Vera) was a seller. What could a seller give her children as compared to a bailiff? — Nobody could answer the question. Someone thought that it was easier for a seller who had connections to live and feed his family, dress and learn children. But Maria used her work as a way to honestly earn a sustainable livelihood and an opportunity to continue improving her education. And everything was not the most important thing for Maria’s family because the main one was children, their health, their seriousness and decency, love for their neighbor and interest in education.
The difference between the daughters was 10 years. The eldest daughter wanted to communication with friends and the youngest was drawn to her. Their mother remained as a link between children. It was necessary for her to interest them in each other and then the street would not become the major thing in their lives. All that was in Mary’s mind and it caused her so much anxiety. The father of the family had got a plot of land from his work so that it would be easier to feed the family. In order to work the land at first the small one-year-old Vera had to be left with her elder sister for several hours. Maria created them all the conditions for staying at home. Mary had no other way, because she was an orphan from childhood and she was raised by her grandmother.
The children grew up. The mother was delighted with Lyubov’s success in study. And when the children turned 6 and 16, the family lost their father. It was scary to think how many more hardships could came upon Maria and only the children gave her strength in solving problems.
And in the family where Maya’s son Sasha grew up the mother paid little attention to upbringing. Parents only wanted to become richer, to spend less, to get more benefits. Sasha was more attached to the street, studied without desire. No one thought about his future.
In 2000 both families moved to different cities of Russia leaving one of the former Union Republics of the USSR. The family where Sasha grew up forgot about the family with which they lived in the neighborhood. For a long time two families knew nothing about each other.
Maria devoted herself to the family. Lyubov and Vera saw their mother as a role model. They got a higher education, moved to Moscow and devoted themselves to professional development and career growth. And 20 years later two families found each other on the Internet. But it was a different life. The guy’s mother Maya who was a godmother to Maria’s youngest daughter even forgot how old her goddaughter was. Maya’s family lost the father too, her work as a bailiff was changed to work at the guardianship agency. Sasha finished a secondary technical school, managed to marry and divorce and he had a minor daughter who was lived with him without her mother (a minor daughter’s mother is alive). Maya working at the guardianship agency until retirement and seeing the tears of orphans at work did not help her son to save his family and thereby not separate her granddaughter from her daughter-in-law.
Maria raised her level of education, worked as an engineer before retirement. The Life put Maya in her place. Having risen to the top (in her opinion) in the spheres of bailiff and guardianship, depriving her granddaughter of childhood happiness, The Life indicated her place – work as a seller. Today we know nothing about Maya and her family.
Sometimes you ask yourself questions: “Why? Why so?”- And the answer comes only one. There are no identical people as there are no identical fates. All people have different values. Some make a cat or a dog into a person while others forget that a child has a heart and it hurts sometimes and helping to understand child’s problems is our holy business. People sometimes live thinking that old age will come and all problems will disappear. No! There will only be more! The youth of our children is a mirror of our old age!
The article is based on real events, except for the fictional names of main characters. The article is the beginning of a cycle of future articles directly related to Maria. We wrote in the announcement that we were deeply touched by the difficult life of the person who had a lot of trials on her way from birth. We have not seen such horror in life, in films! It is true!
More you will find out soon! After 7-10 days.
Stay with us! You can ask questions and write comments, reviews, and wishes to the author of articles of this cycle.
Best regards, Bobo145