Babushka.

My Mother In Law, Maria is a sweet lady who has a Birthday coming up Feb 28th. She was born on the 29th of Feb 1936 in Berezniy Ukraine. She will be 70 years old and has lived all of her life in Ukraina. She has traveled to Georgia , Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Russia. Outside of these countries she has lived in Uzhgorod Ukraina for the past 69 years.
She lived life as a devochka in a small village when World War II broke out. Life got real bad real quick. Due to the lack of rations and medical care things got worse. Sickness hit the region and many people died and the suffering was very bad among the villages and towns. No food , no medical care and bad guys all around doing bad things to many good people.As a rule when bad things happen to good people they become better people. This was true with Babushka, she became very ill and there was no medical care of any kind to help her and the others who were ill and wounded.
This is the woman that welcomed me into her home . She cooked for me, she welcomed me with open arms and a smile on her face. She would not let me send my clothes out to be cleaned. She washed and ironed them herself.
I was setting in the living room one afternoon and heard something in the hall. I get up and see her cleaning my shoes. I thought Baby Girl was playing a trick on daddy, she likes to sneak up on me and say I love you daddy.
Babushka was cleaning away on my shoes with polish and a brush. Talk about feeling like a dirty, lazy man.Every visit and at all times she is doing something. Cooking, cleaning , looking after the kids and more. I have no idea where she gets the energy and the go to do it all. The woman does not slow down or ever quit. She has passed this along to Maryna as well. Maryna is busy all day and slows down to eat meals and that is about it. I think it is , one does as one sees.
Babushka has 3 sisters and 2 brothers still living . She is the 2nd of 5 children all raised together. One brother went in the Soviet Army when he was 18 years old, went to Siberia and still lives there. Ivan has been home one time. Maryna saw him about 15 years ago for the first time. All of the others are still in the same area. So as you can see this a very loving and caring family that has stayed close to home and each other.
The family is having a Birthday party for Babushka next week. She is being honored for her 70 years of life and love. We can't be there and it is breaking our hearts not to share it with her and the family. I will share the photos with all of our pals when we get them.
A good party will be had for a very good woman. There will be food, wine , song and story telling . There will be much to say and hear for everyone except our Babushka. She as a result of her illness is a deaf mute. She lost her hearing and ability to speak when she was ill with Typhus when she was 5 years old. God bless Babushka may she have many more Birthdays..