Letter from the hospital to Valentina
In December, the military pilot Yevgeny Fedyaev from Engels turned 100 years old. During the Great Patriotic War, his classmate Valentina Antonova was waiting for him at his house in the Omsk region.
During the battles for Novorossiysk, the young pilot was seriously injured: when he was flying on reconnaissance, an enemy fighter shot at him, but he was able to reach his airfield and land the plane. However, in the hospital ward, he was left for dead and taken to the morgue. Parents managed to send a funeral.
– From the hospital, I did not write to Valya that he was injured. He wrote, they say, sunbathing on the Black Sea. She answered me: “Shame! People are fighting, and you are sunbathing,” recalls Evgeny Ilyich.
They married after the war, in 1946, when Eugene came home on vacation. But the young couple still had to go through new tests of separation. Fedyaev after the war served in the aviation regiment, which was stationed in Poland, hoping that his wife would be allowed to come to him. However, at first he could not fill out the necessary documents for a long time, and then, due to the aggravation of the situation in this country, the wives of the military were forbidden to go to them. As the veteran recalls, the attacks on our military became more frequent at that time. Home Army fighters killed soldiers in Soviet uniforms. Once, in front of Fedyaev, a Polish woman saved the life of a Russian military man. She was on the train, he himself was dressed in civilian clothes. At that moment, several armed militants entered the car. Then one of the passengers, a Pole, sat on the knees of the Russian senior sergeant, who was traveling on this train, and protected him with her wide skirts. The militants passed by and did not notice the fighter.
Only a year and a half later, when Evgeny was transferred to serve on the territory of our country, the young family was able to reunite.
Together, soul to soul, they lived for 73 years. Valentina Petrovna worked as a teacher of Russian and literature. When her wife left her, Yevgeny Ilyich wrote poetry to her:
“Seventy-three years, like an endless day, they walked shoulder to shoulder …” and further: “Forgive me for all my faults before you, for not setting life milestones there, for not protecting you from fate, forgive me for all my faults”.
The home where hearts are healed
They have been together for more than a quarter of a century, but they still look at each other with loving eyes. When you first enter his cozy two-story house on the outskirts of the city of Temnikov, you involuntarily gasp: long, neat rows of children’s shoes line the hall, from baby sandals to girls’ shoe models. . The largest family in Mordovia lives here. Elena and Alexander Visyulkin have 18 children. Most of the boys in the past grew up in orphanages and boarding schools. But for the spouses, they are all relatives and loved ones.
– How did Sasha and I meet? I was at the bus stop. And the next day she came to my work with a bouquet and a box of chocolates,-says the hostess. -When we got married, she dreamed that we would have many children, but she didn’t know that 18…
A young family moved to Mordovia from Engels in Saratov 20 years ago.
– My mother, having gone on a pilgrimage to local monasteries – Diveevo, Sanaksar – fell in love with these places. Upon her return, she announced: “Come on!” Ellen remembers. – Then we already had three children, and the fourth was born here. She more and more remembered my old dream – to take a child out of an orphanage. Even while studying at a teacher training college, I had to visit the hospital where the children from the orphanage were lying. It was a shame for them to tears! Then I dragged them all the children’s things that my mother bought me as dowry.
A loving husband supported his wife’s aspirations. The confessor blessed the responsible step. After a trip to one of the shelters in the Saratov region, the number of children in her house doubled.
– We do not choose: we take whoever offered. Entire families. Therefore, God gave us all children, – says the interlocutor. – At first there were four sisters. Right on the day of our arrival, they decided to run away from the orphanage. The eldest has already packed her things. She later told me: “When they called the director, I was afraid that they would find out about the escape. But I saw you and realized that I would not run away anywhere, I would go to you.” We have children who are growing up and who have already been placed in a foster family and have come back. There are also twins, a brother and a sister. At first it was painful to look at them: at a year and a half, toothless, hairless, they weighed six kilos, as if they were six months old. And the girl also has a heart defect… Now they are normal healthy children, they are fine. Our elders have already received higher education, they are beginning to create their own families.
It’s hard to believe, but the mother of the republic with many children is not only a working woman, but also a manager – Elena Vladimirovna is the director of the district library system, she has 33 employees.
– I will come home from work, and the children will gather, stay around me: “Mom, mom has come!” “And all the fatigue will be removed as if by hand,” she smiles. – Children take an example from their parents: seeing the love and support we give each other, they also try to help each other. Of course, we celebrate birthdays together. It is not always possible: the eldest son is in Moscow, works as a computer engineer, the daughter is in Nizhny Novgorod. But on my birthday and dads everyone is trying to come. We organize a big family tea party, we order a cake. Children prepare homemade gifts, concerts, performances. But the most valuable gift is love. She is in the soul. We try to convey this feeling to children so that it warms them from the inside and also gives love to others, with their actions.
In the bag
Vlad Korchagin, a resident of Zarechny, proposed to his wife six years ago, but the couple still remembers this day with a special feeling and reviews the footage recorded by a hidden camera.
For the bride, the groom arranged a search in one of the large shopping centers in Penza. Dozens of people participated in his script, from the administration to the artists. Only the girl Natalya did not guess anything.
A young couple decided to take a walk through the operating rooms, when suddenly, on the escalator, they were literally grabbed by the hand by the host of a win-win lottery. Natalya reached into the drum and took out a ticket, and on it an indication of where to go. At each store, the couple was greeted with balloons, flowers and gifts and handed a cheat sheet outlining their next destination. They were awarded a prize for a correctly completed task.
– This is the dream of any girl, she seemed to be in a fairy tale. My vigilance decreased, I just walked behind Vlad and smiled. Frankly, I did not understand what was happening, – says Natalia. – Flowers, balloons, people dressed as clowns. And they all looked at me like they knew something.
When the lovers went up to the top floor, they saw a violinist in a beautiful dress. The sound of music stirred my heart even more. Vlad leaned over to throw money into the busker’s hat, and at the bottom was a box with a ring.
“Marry me,” Natalya heard.
He did not even have time to agree, when suddenly he found himself in the circle of relatives and friends. Twenty people were invited to the engagement. Immediately in the cafe for the young people raised cups of tea.
The engagement video, which was later edited and posted on social media, garnered 177,000 views and ended up on central television.
“We do not stop there and continue to be creative,” Vlad Korchagin admitted, but did not reveal the surprise that he had prepared for his wife for Valentine’s Day.
