Lioudmila Enguibarian

My mother was born and grew up in Kazakhstan (USSR), in a rural area near the city of Kostanay. Her father worked at the local community center, and her mother was a bank employee. The village was surrounded by seven picturesque lakes, and her parents’ house stood just a few steps away from one of them. In the summer, my mother and her friends would spend long hours swimming in the lake and then lying on the hot sand by the shore.

Mom was a very responsible girl. Sometimes, after a swim, she would say, "Well, guys, Mom asked me to make chicken soup for dinner, so I’d better head home. I must slaughter a chicken and get it ready!" Winter in the village was fun, too. Mom loved ice skating, having snowball fights, and sliding down hills. Her parents couldn't afford real ice skates, so her grandfather would simply attach blades to her *valenki* (felt boots) with a piece of string, and it worked perfectly! Mom and her friends also enjoyed sliding down hills on homemade "sleds", large, tightly packed chunks of cow manure with ropes tied to them so they had something to hold onto. These "sleds" didn't usually last very long, but they were easy to replace, as there was an endless supply of "building material."

My mother was strong. When she was a child, she and the other kids used to play a game: you had to try to pry open someone else’s clenched fist. My mother always won; no one could ever open her hand, not even the strongest boys. Her family was very poor, yet she had a happy childhood; she often told me stories about those days. As she grew older, she wanted to go to college, but there was no such opportunity in her home village. So, her parents sent her far away to live with my grandmother’s sister in a small town near Moscow, where she could help her relative while pursuing her studies. My mother seized the chance and enrolled in a local industrial college. Before long, she made friends with other students. In some cases, these friendships lasted for more than 50 years. Moreover, my mother was fearless and tough. Her best friend once told me that while they were walking through a town park on their way to college, a group of hooligans accosted them. My mother reacted instantly. In an instant, the instigators of the chaos were already lying on the ground, and both young women simply walked on. Mom didn’t even bother to turn around!

After graduating from college in 1952, Mom was sent to Stalingrad to build a canal from the Volga to the Don rivers. My father also graduated from college in Yerevan, Armenia. And of course, he was also sent to the same construction site, and they inevitably met in a lab! My future father fell in love first with my beautiful mom, but she was not so quick; good for you, Mom! But eventually they got married after a few months, I believe. My dad sold his watches to have a little wedding party, and the rest is history! They had a good life, working on big construction projects in Siberia, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and had my sister and me in between. We ended up in Yerevan, Armenia, where my sister went to a university. But our journey did not end there. After that, we went to Russia again, to live in a small city near Moscow. All that time, my mom remained a big part of my sister's and my lives. All our friends were her friends, our kids were her kids, our lives were her life.

After I emigrated to Canada in 1999, I sponsored my mom, and she came to Canada to live with us. In Canada, we had 21 happy years living with my mother in Calgary and in Nanaimo. We have great friends here; my mother loves them all. Thank you so much, Mom! We love and miss you every day 💕 💕 💕