Six life lessons from my babushkas

It’s International Women’s Day and I find myself once again thinking about my late babushkas (grandmas) who passed away a few years ago. In honor of their story, resurfacing their eulogy and what it’s taught me.

Lesson 1: Life doesn’t always go as expected

Babushka Maria was born in what was once called Chekoslovakia, where Slovakia and Czech Republic are today. When she was young, her parents went to France anticipating her joining them, but thanks to WWII, that didn’t work out. They came back, deciding instead to move to Ukraine with their daughter, with high hopes of it being just as lovely as Paris. It wasn’t.

Lesson 2: Don’t put up with anyone’s bullshit

Maria ended up being hitched via a pre-arranged marriage which (was common then). He wasn’t a good husband. In fact, he mistreated her. But she didn’t put up with it. Instead she raised their three daughters on her own, in the middle of the Soviet era and would not let her daughters repeat that cycle of abuse. She raised them strong and steered them toward boys that respected them. Toward those who she felt would be good fathers to her grandbabies one day. She was soft spoken, but she was a warrior. And it worked. To this day, my mom reminds me of how thankful I should be for having a great father.