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Lena
jokingly refers to her earlier years and life in the Soviet Union as
a time when “she was raised as a poor CHILD of SOCIALISM.”
This 1977 photo of Lena when she was about 20 and attending her Academia
in St. Petersburg is one of only two photos of her that we have which...
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...were
taken before she was married at age 22. This other picture of Lena cross-country
skiing near St. Petersburg was also taken at about age 20.
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This
photo of Lena when she was pregnant was taken a couple of weeks before
she gave birth to her daughter, Anya, on 3 October 1980.
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These
are Lena’s parents, “Yuri” and “Rita,” standing
outside the hospital following Anya’s birth. Her father is vigorously
displaying or demonstrating what Steve calls the rubber-stamp “Official
Russian NON-SMILE” required in ALL photographs on ALL occasions.
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As
a Colonel in the Russian Army, Lena’s father, Yuri, for many years
was in overall charge of the construction of the Soviet’s top secret
Baikonur missile base in Kazakstan. The Russians still launch all their
cosmonauts into space from the very same cosmodrome which he built.
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Lena,
in the process of being discharged from the hospital with baby Anya,
looks out the window. Since there were no private commercial sources
available in the Soviet Union in those days to develop film or print
photos for individual Russian citizens in 1980, very few people had
a private camera.
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Instead,
most Russians used an ‘official’ photographer for whatever
few photos they had taken. However, Lena and her husband, had bought
a camera and learned the basic essential skills required to develop
B&W film in their bathroom so that they could print their own images
of their new baby.
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And,
you can probably correctly guess that even the CHILD of another “poor
child of Socialism” was loved just as much as any kid anywhere
in the world!
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And,
probably, this particular newest candidate for being a “poor child
of Socialism” didn’t like her first bath much better than
a kid anywhere else in the world. In this photo, Anya is being bathed
by her grandmother and mother.
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Steve
wanted to include this photo of Anya between diapers because it clearly
shows a gas stove in the background. In other words, Steve could clearly
see that the Russians were NOT still using WOOD STOVES for cooking in
1980! (And, yes, they also had telephones!) <grin>
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“A
crib...is a crib...is a crib in just about any country...anywhere in
the world.” [This is what Steve had written before Lena
read his above-quoted explanation of this photo! Lena then explained
to Steve that when a mother had painstakingly HAND-SEWED everything
in the crib, IT IS *NOT* JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER DAMN CRIB in the world!]
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A
nice little smooch and a hug from grandma “Rita” ...
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...while
mother look on.
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But,
Anya seems to smile more happily when mother takes her away from grandmother!
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Most
people know that it gets COLD in the winter time in Russia. And, so,
taking the kid outside for a “spin around the block” is somewhat
more of an adventure than it might be in Southern California. In this
photo, Lena and her mother check to ensure that Anya really *IS* somewhere
inside!
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Once
you bury the kid deeply enough in the baby carriage and cover her with
enough warm blankets, the poor girl hardly knew (or cared) WHERE she
was traveling.
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Lena
takes a stand against “PETA” and demonstrates her support
for people wearing FURS! Since Anton (her husband) had not yet joined
the Russian Army at this stage of his life, he had not been fully indoctrinated
as to the “Official Russian NON-SMILE” pose and is almost
smiling in this photo!
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On
the other hand, Lena has been known to exhibit a much happier outlook
on life than is being demonstarted at this particular point in time.
[Maybe it was just a natural part of evolving and living as a poor CHILD
of SOCIALISM?”]
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In
contrast , Anton, is almost downright JOVIAL in this photo. [Anton was
a computer programmer and, a couple of years after Anya was born, he
cut his long hair, became an officer in the Russian Army, and eventually
attained the rank of Colonel (the same as Lena’s father)].
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The
only available winter outfit that Lena could find to buy for Anya at
this age was several sizes too BIG for her, so Anya did not quite completely
fill out the outfit (as seen in this photo). [Steve refers to this photo
as “the one with Anton carrying the LOG.”]
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.Yes,
even poor CHILDREN of SOCIALISM love their TEDDY BEAR!
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Lena’s
mother, Rita, watches as Anya learns to stand on her own and ...
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...Grandfather
Yuri holds her while she tries on his Russian officer’s hat
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In
the Soviet Union in the 1980’s, newly-weds typically had to move
in with one set of parents while they waited up to several years to
get a government-furnished apartment of their own. Lena, her husband
(Anton), and Anya lived with Lena’s parents in Moscow...
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