Chapter 3. Grandparents Lena and Fedor
So, yesterday I became 73, I am old, my male ancestors died in earlier ages. I am a happy man, if I die today, I will die without regrets. But I want live longer, I am still able to bring happiness into the life of my loved ones. I have set a number of tasks for myself, this writing is one of them.
And now I look on the white screen of my computer and don’t know where I should start. Is it my childhood in a “zone” – secret place, where my father was making first and many following nuclear weapons, or the beginning was much earlier, when my grandparents were young. What if I start with something and compose the whole story later.
Grandma Lena deserves to be the first character in my story. Not only because she is a matriarchy of our family, but mainly because she developed and embedded in my mind that constant drive for the better life. You may argue that better life is everyone dream. Unfortunately I found that 90% of people absolutely convinced that only wealth provide better life, substituting meaning better with easier. It’s common saying “easy money – easy life”.
In my head “easy” never was a goal, sometimes I had to choose a hard way, if it was the only way I can get to reach my destination, which I would call a better life. I guess, I picked up this philosophy quite unconsciously, just by listening numerous tales of my Grandma Lena's life. So, I will start with amazing stories, happened in the first half of last century. I heard those stories, when I was young and anxious to begin my own path in life, studying in high school. We spent hours together, and she went on and on, talking about all kind of events, that happened in her life.
Lena and Gary, 1969 Nadya and Lena, 1980
Lena is 12, her mother just died. Lena became the mistress of the house with her father and two older brothers. They lived in small town Kamensk-Uralsky in the western Siberia. There was a factory for metal ore processing, and her father, Konstantin Gusev, was a chief and only engineer at that factory. Her oldest brother Aleksei was in high school, preparing himself to go after his father steps.
I met my grand uncle only once, it was May 1, 1971. It was Lena's 75th birthday. He sat next to me at the family’s party, with dinner table full of traditional Siberian food, which only Grandma could cook so exceptionally well. We ate classic pie with “iziga” (soft round pieces of sturgeon spine cord), and he was telling me what a life was before the communists, before the World War One. He looked at me and said “I was young like you and just graduated from University as an engineer. The factory gave me nice wages, house, horse vehicle with assigned driver. And what do you have?” That was the best criticism of Soviet regime, I ever heard. And there was not envy feeling about material possession, suddenly I felt that my grand uncle was and still is a much more free man, than I am, he was a respected professional, and I was just a little screw in the huge mechanism, anyone could force me to the miserable life.
I guess, that episode stuck in my memory as a first among many others, which I collected and built a strong foundation for a decision to take my family to the Free world.
Lena is 17 and just graduated from the high school. She is full of joyful expectations, she is going to be a dentist after learning in Warsaw University. Some great jump from the routine life of teenager housekeeper from provincial small Siberian town to wonders of European capital.
She travels by train through Russian plains about four days. She is accompanied by her friend, another young girl. Their adventure started with a memorable surprise. When they just sat on their benches in their sleeping section, some bearded big man joined them. He had very simple clothes, like a peasant, but it was strange that he could afford to travel in the sleeping train car. He politely asked permission to join young ladies, and they, a little shocked, agreed. He probably noticed girl's tension and was tried to entertain them in a very friendly manner. Lena remembered how they were surprised that just a simple man could talk about so many things usually discussed in higher society. It was a very interesting conversation, he asked and they told him about their future plans. The man was obviously enjoyed the time with them, and they also forgot their tension and openly joined the chatting. After a couple hours the train had a stop in some Siberian village. The man stood up and politely wish the girls a happy journey and left. Girls looked into the window and saw a large crowd greeting that very man. They chanting something and it was obvious that they show their greatest respect. “Who was that man?”- Lena asked the conductor. “Didn’t you recognize him”- conductor answered. “He is Rasputin!”
Many years later I asked Grandma Lena: “You met and even talked with Rasputin?” And she said “Yes, we heard about him, that every summer he visited his family in Siberian village, long way from Petersburg and his infamous adventures in Russian high society. But we didn’t see his pictures, and of course didn’t we expect to meet him on the train”. I was 15 at that time, and I thought, what an incredible events are awaiting for me to happen.
Let’s get back to 1913, Warsaw. Lena as always study hard the dentistry and explores the Poland capital, though at that time it was a part of Russia. Many years later (1978) she excitedly remembered places, where she had been, asked me after my visit to Warsaw, if some particular shop was still there. She felt herself free and happy, she liked to walk on the streets of the old part of the big city, spent hours in beautiful shops just absorbing the never seen before merchandise. She liked everything around her, including the marvelous bookshop on Nowy Swiat street and especially medical supplies shop, where she observed with adoration various dental kits.
Life in the university was absolutely new experience for her, it was cultural shock, so many young people were always running trying to catch all the most interesting meetings and events, - so much different from the life she knew before.
It was one of those student evening gatherings, where Lena first saw a familiar face, and very handsome one too. His name was Fedor, she remembered him from the one of the big Siberian summer parties, which attracted all even distant family members from large area between big rivers Tobol and Ishim. She was a modest teenager then and Fedor was in his golden age of 20. She liked him a lot, but didn’t dare to introduce herself. And now Fedor himself rushed to her and asked her: “Didn’t we meet before?” She bravely looked in his eyes and answered: “Yes, you are Fedor, a distant cousin from Ishim, we met two years ago”.
Since that day they were together almost every day. Fedor studied philosophy at the Warsaw University, didn’t pay much attention to the class, but instead was well known in most popular among young people restaurants and pool clubs. It must be said that he was very skilled pool player. Fedor came from the family of the highest priest in Russian Orthodox Church in Siberia, very respectful and wealthy position in religious and civil areas. His younger brother Nickolay became an army officer, but Fedor was entered by his father to the prestigious seminary and destined to continue his father life trek. Unfortunately, such future wasn’t in the plans of young man. His father tried to put his son on the righteous path, but was unsuccessful. Fedor was expelled during his first semester for freethinking (official term for drinking and class absence). Father tried hard to bring Fedor back to church career, but must eventually redirect his son to the theology and philosophy, hence Fedor left to Warsaw to study.
Elizaveta Zelentsova, mother of Fedor Zelentsov, chief of the Red Army regiment in 1920s
Lena and Fedor very soon fell in love and became a wedded couple for more than 40 years. It was a great love right from the first glance, they went together through the all the tests, life stored for them. There was only one moment of disappointment, Grandma told me she couldn’t forget. It was in Warsaw, they were dating. One evening Fedor came and said: “ Lena, tonight you can ask me for anything you want, I just won a lot of money at the pool”. Lena remembered that evening, even after 50 years later. She said “There is a wonderful dental set, I had an eye on”. “What a wicked desire,” he said, “but if this, what you want, it will be yours”. Next, they are in the shop. Two sets are for sale, one at 25 rubles and another, much bigger set at 75 rubbles. What my grandma chose? The 25 rubbles set, just because she never could dream of such an awesome set. Well, Fedor just barked to the salesman to get wrapped and pulled Lena to the restaurant. Next day, Lena told me later, she couldn’t get rid of the thought that she was such close to possession of the best dental set that would be her proud toolbox for the rest of her life. Same day evening she asked Fedor to go back to the shop and exchange the sets. “Oh, my dear, why didn’t you ask me to buy it yesterday? Today was my unlucky day at the pool, no money left, my honey”.
“I will never forgive myself for not asking him to buy me that damn expensive toolset,” she said to me more than 50 years later. And I thought if that was the biggest embarrassment in their married life, then how big was their love to each other, I would like that I met such a big love in my life. They got married in 1920 and first child was born in February 1921, their daughter Nadia (Hope in Russian). Fedor and Lena loved each other through many years and Lena always found her ways to be near Fedor during his complicated, sometimes even dangerous life journey.