#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, garage, washing machine 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!
I started teaching at the New Britain YWCA. Since I did not speak English very well yet, I just demonstrated everything and students were copying me the best they could.... We 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. My Mom was sending me pictures of the family and would spend hours looking at them, crying and hoping. I left when my brother was only 14 years old and when I saw him in the picture, he was so big! My niece was 4 and now she looked so grown-up and fun... How I missed the all!

                                                       My family