Alona and Manizha met for “tea” with Mrs. Chips one happy evening recently.
Some five years ago, our long time writer, Alona, from Ukraine, wrote a beautiful story about her grandmother. (Read here.) Last month, our wonderful storyteller, Manizha, from Tajikistan, wrote a story about her mother that was almost identical to Alona’s story. (Read here.)
The women found and read each other’s stories and suddenly realized they had something incredible in common: a country and a 70-year history when both countries were part of the U.S.S.R. The women have since “met” and talked by Skype.
Dear Manizha,
My name is Alona. I live in Ukraine. I liked your story very much because I had a similar situation in my childhood. My grannie and my parents really encouraged my interests and taught me the things I wanted to learn about. Like you, I also wanted to know about ancient civilizations, about myths, and the great stories of the planets, stars, and constellations.
Remembering my childhood I feel much gratitude for my relatives and for their care. I tried to make something similar for my son. My son is named Andrei and he is 21 years old. The last travel we had, we were together in Rome. That was a year ago. It was a dream come true!
Just like you wrote in your story, I also really liked to read books by H.G. Wells, especially “The Time Machine”! I read it out loud with my grandmother. We always thought it would be wonderful to return in time to try to save the great Egyptian Alexander library. I hope we can meet sometime.
— Alona
Dear Alona,
I was very glad to read your story in InterestEng. Your story was very touching. When I read it, I remembered my childhood. I was surprised because our lives were so similar. Then I understood why it was so: because we lived in one country then! When I was 17 my mom and I even visited Kiev! This visit was so wonderful. It was like a fairytale. I liked Ukraine. I loved Kiev. We saw many beautiful places, churches, parks, museums, and monuments. We ate in wonderful restaurants and I tried “real” Ukrainian cuisine.
Today is a very happy day because I remembered my days in another country thanks to your story and your letter to me. I hope we can talk by Skype because it would be very interesting. My heart right now is beating strongly I am so happy for this day!
— Manizha