Last month, Pelagaeya, from the Ural Mountains of Russia, wrote a wonderful story about her visit to St. Petersburg this past summer with her grandmother. Her grandmother was reconnecting with a long lost friend. One of our readers wrote asking how the reunion went. Here Pelagaeya replies.
WHEN we arrived in St. Petersburg it was rainy outside, but sunny in my granny’s heart.
The daughter of her friend met us at the bus station. Actually, the daughter is also a good friend! Of course, my grandmother was very happy to see her. But when we arrived at the flat where my grandmother’s friend lives, they both immediately started to cry because they were so happy. (The photo is from the window of her flat where we stayed.) My grandmother and her friend are like sisters. They are very close and so they felt a lot to see each other. They also spent a lot of time joking with each other and teasing each other and laughing. This is typical of Russian friends.
The first night we were up very late talking! Granny and her friend talked about all that happened during the years when they did not see each other. My granny knitted a blue shawl for her friend with a beautiful pattern in it. She gave the daughter a summer blouse.
The daughter did all the cooking for us and wouldn’t let us help. Both mother and daughter were very kind to us. It was interesting for me to get to know them. They told very interesting stories about their lives. My grandmother’s friend loves to tell mystery stories and I love mystery stories, too. Of course, we were all sad when we had to go back home, but our goats were happy. —Pelagaeya