#32 ~ 1977 ~ West Hartford, CT

Elizabeth at the park ~ West Hartford, CT

I was so much in love with my life, my babies, my home... I was happy! Felix was working at the General Elevator company and I stayed home with the girls. Mashoonya was growing so fast, and Elizabeth was such a cute and easy baby. I loved taking care of them, I changed Elizabeth's clothes 10 times a day, we all went shopping Friday nights, and I was learning the American way of life. In the spring of 1977 we moved to the house in West Hartford. It was on the first floor and we had a yard and garage and bedrooms for the girls. We even had a small sun room, where we kept all the toys. We rented the house, but I was already dreaming of having our own house. I could see that it was possible!
Ida was offered a job as a coach at the New Britain YWCA. But she was already working. So naturally, I said that I would like to try. We all drove to the YWCA and I had an interview with the director. Since I did not speak English very well yet, I just conducted a class and I was hired right away. They did not have any equipment, so I used whatever I could find: volleyballs, ropes, odd looking clubs, hoops, etc. I made my own ribbons. My students were all grown women, much older than me. And I made them do things that they could never imagine doing: bending, arching, jumping, dancing, kicking and of course we all had such a great time!

The only sad thing in my life was, that my family was still in Ukraine and they had a very hard time getting exit visas. But we were all hoping for the best.