Do Not Miss Your Chance
by Dasha Streltsova,
Eastern Europe
Everything is so fast and simple now, life moves at a breakneck speed… There is no time for silly romance.
Hundreds of people do believe they can meet their love match on the internet. Well, you register on the web site, look through the photos and profiles, then write several words in Yahoo Messenger or Skype…nice chat, then you can probably meet and go out somewhere for a drink, and then you can even marry that guy you’ve met on the Internet… Just think when was the last time you wrote the real letter… on paper, with a pen and without spellchecker… Years ago! But we write tons of emails and messages every day! The world has changed, but yet not so muchJ. It’s still the same – the same feelings, the same moral values; new outfits and high tech technologies made it look different, but people are the same in every century.
“I love you!” does not lose its meaning when typed on computer and not written with a pen, it’s in your heart ?
Now listen to a real story that happened more than 50 years ago. It took place in Crimea, multinational area. There used to live Russians, Ukrainians, Tartars, Bulgarians et al.
After the Second World War the government of the former Soviet Union deported to Siberia people that belonged to the nationalities that collaborated with fascists. According to the order people had to leave their homes in 24 hours and set out to Siberia. This happened to my godmother’s family… They were Bulgarians. They left their house and all the goods to their neighbor, Tatiana. She was single, and good neighbors were just like family for her… and their daughter, Nina, was her deepest affection. This kind woman took care of the house, kept books and photos, and was in touch with friends through letters, though she understood that they would probably never meet again.
Once Tatiana decided to rent a room to a young pilot, Vladimir. Vladimir saw Nina’s photo on the wall and understood that this young lady was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen on earth and in heaven. He fell in love with Nina. He begged Tatiana to give him Nina’s address, and kind woman took pity on a loving guy… Vladimir wrote a letter, and Nina responded. Certainly she immediately fell in love with a bold and romantic pilot! They wrote letters every day about everything, and they knew for sure they should meet… Tatiana tried to explain to Vladimir that Nina and her family were in exile, and nobody would every let him, Soviet pilot, marry a Bulgarian girl exiled to Siberia. But all her reasoning was useless, just because love is much stronger than common sense. He decided to go to Siberia.
Nina was standing at the railway station waiting for Vladimir, she was 17. She was holding her mom’s hand… She felt anxiety, joy, fear, and extreme happiness – everything at the same time. She thought: “What if he does not come? What if he does not recognize me? What if he does not like me standing here in this ugly coat and felt boots?” And Vladimir was trembling with fear and anxiety, and he also was shivering with cold. Winters in Siberia are much severer than in Crimea…After he’d got on the train, Vladimir opened his suitcase, and there was a fur-cap to his great surprise. Tatiana, this kind lady, put it there secretly… But Vladimir decided to put on his flight hat and jacket … Nina knew he was a pilot, and he wanted her to meet him as a pilot though he arrived by train.
And at that very moment Nina shifted her feet on the platform, and when she heard the whistle of the approaching locomotive, she just ran away. The girl was so eager to meet Vladimir, but she was too nervous. Nina’s mother was standing on the platform in confusion. When the crowd thinned out, there were just two people on the platform: a young guy in a flight cap and jacket, almost frozen with Siberian cold, and a middle-aged woman… Nina’s mother understood that he was that very guy… They went home together like relatives and found Nina there, she was howling.
“Hi Nina!” said young pilot, and a girl threw her arms around his neck…
Vladimir wrote hundreds of letters to communist leaders asking for permission to marry Nina. Two years passed before they let him marry his beloved girl, and he took her away from Siberia. They lived together all life and gave birth to two wonderful children. Their daughter Irina is my godmother. She married a man named Vladimir (just like her father) and brought two wonderful sons to this world; they are my best friends…
Sometimes I think of this family and understand that we should never lose our faith in love, there is nothing impossible. And real love is not only romance, sometimes it requires moral and emotional strength, persistence and patience…Just never give up and overcome all the obstacles, otherwise there will be no so beautiful and smart children ?
Add your love story to our website!
