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Pasha, Pasha, where are you?\u201d Vasiliyna called her husband. It was already 6 AM. They had argued yesterday, and her husband had spent the night on the porch. There, in the summer kitchen, was a topchan\u2014an old sofa converted for use. Usually, by this time, he would already be in the yard, feeding the chickens, the goat Mashka, and coming in for breakfast. Today, it was quiet. The front door wasn\u2019t slamming. You could hear the goat Mashka bleating outside. \u201cUnfed perhaps? But then where is Pavel? Maybe he left somewhere after yesterday\u2019s argument?\u201d Worried, Vasiliyna struggled to get up and went to the porch. \u201cI have to get up anyway. I need to cook something for Pasha and myself. Maybe pancakes? Thin ones, just how Pasha likes them with melted honey.\u201d She left the house and reached the kitchen table where she saw Pavel lying. He lay unnaturally, his head thrown back and arms outstretched. His glassy eyes stared unblinkingly at the ceiling. Vasiliyna heavily sat down on a chair. \u201cHe\u2019s dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPash, oh Pash.\u201d She touched her husband, felt his forehead. He was cold, already stiff. \u201cSo, he died last night. Something must be done. But what?\u201d Her mind suddenly stopped working. She continued to sit in shock, unable to make herself get up and start doing something. And she sat there. Yesterday\u2019s argument came to mind.<\/p>\n
They had three children. All their lives, from their wedding day, Pavel had worked first in a collective farm, then as a mechanic in the fields for a private farmer, a former chairman of the collective farm. Tractors, combines. Always in the fields. Vasiliyna had also always been at the collective farm as a milker, and later looked after calves for the same farmer her entire life. The family never sat without money. They knew no hunger, no poverty. The yard was always full of livestock, raised both for themselves and for sale. They raised and educated their children. Even in their old age, in retirement, they supplied their children with food from their own yard and helped them with money. They paid for weddings, helped them buy apartments. They raised five to six cows for sale. Vasiliyna in any weather sold milk, lard, cottage cheese, meat, eggs, sour cream, and butter in the market in the district center. The Samoylovs always had money on hand and in reserve. They spent little on themselves, living the old-fashioned way, on what was long acquired. Until three years ago, Vasiliyna fell on the snow while going to give water to the cows and pigs. She broke her hip. Vasiliyna spent a long time, almost three months, in the hospital and returned home disabled. She could barely move around the house during the first year. Her husband did not leave her, he helped. But the children\u2026 After Vasiliyna was taken to the hospital, the father called all three children, someone needed to look after the livestock or their mother in the hospital. None of them came. Pavel had nowhere to go, so he gradually began to slaughter the livestock and sell it. He left one cow, five hens, a rooster, some meat for themselves in the freezer. He was always with his wife, helping her in the hospital. When Vasiliyna started to get better and stand on her feet, Pavel consulted and slaughtered the last cow. They decided to get a goat for milk. The two of them would be enough. The children knew their mother was in the hospital, that their father was rushing between home and the hospital, but none of them came. They didn\u2019t even call or ask how their parents were. It was bitter and offensive to Pavel and Vasiliyna. They talked about their children for a long time and could not understand why their children treated them this way. Proud Pavel forbade Vasiliyna from calling the children. \u201cIf we\u2019re not needed, then we\u2019re not needed. God be their judge. I don\u2019t want to see any of them. Don\u2019t call anyone. Understood?\u201d \u201cUnderstood, Pashenka. I won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vasiliyna was discharged from the hospital. Gradually, she began to recover. Pavel managed everything in the yard. Vasiliyna rarely went outside. The third year, they planted nothing but potatoes. And even those were planted with the help of the neighbor\u2019s son, Ivan. He plowed the garden with a cultivator and helped Pavel plant. Ivan and his wife from the very beginning of Vasiliyna\u2019s illness helped the neighbors. His Nastya cooked food for the grandfather and packed it for Pavel in the hospital. When Vasiliyna came home, it was already spring, Nastya had dug the beds and planted a little garden with onions, carrots, peppers, beets, parsley, dill at the grandfather\u2019s place so the old folks had their own greens. Every time Nastya and Ivan came to help or with gifts, Pavel and Vasiliyna wiped away a tear. Not needed by their own, but looked after by strangers. They were endlessly grateful to the neighbors for their care and attention.<\/p>\n
A year ago, grandfather had a stroke\u2014he fell right in the yard. Fortunately, Ivan saw from the yard and called an ambulance in time. Vasiliyna called the children that same day. The eldest daughter said, \u201cMom, it\u2019s very bad. Call an ambulance, send dad to the hospital. We can\u2019t come yet, the children have school. You might not remember, your grandson Vasily is graduating school.\u201d The middle son didn\u2019t pick up the phone for a long time, and when he did, he said he couldn\u2019t come right now, he was in Altai and he\u2019s not a doctor and couldn\u2019t help his father anyway. The youngest daughter, hearing that her father had a stroke, started crying. \u201cHow is he?\u201d \u201cIn ICU for now. Will you come, Mashenka? I\u2019m almost unable to walk, but someone has to go to your father.\u201d \u201cNot yet. Ask someone else to help. You have money, I know. Father slaughtered all the livestock and sold it. He kept the money for himself. He didn\u2019t give any of it to us. So, you have money for a caregiver.\u201d \u201cWhat are you talking about, daughter? Most of that money is gone. I spent a year lying down, father spent it on surgery, treatment, and medicine. There weren\u2019t millions there.\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t exaggerate, mom. There was a lot of money. You couldn\u2019t have spent that much.\u201d The daughter hung up. Vasiliyna was stunned by everything she heard. She sat for a long time, not turning on the lights, in the dark. Bitter thoughts and the pain of offense tore her heart. The indifference and outright unlove of the children shocked her. But something had to be done. But what? Someone knocked on the door. \u201cGrandma Vasiliyna, are you home? Alive?\u201d \u201cVanechka! Home, I\u2019m home, come in dear.\u201d \u201cAnd it snowed outside. The first one. I was at the hospital today. Grandpa came to himself. They\u2019ll move him from ICU to a ward soon. Why were you crying, grandma Vasiliyna? Did you talk to the children?\u201d \u201cYes, Vanechka, I talked. We\u2019re not needed by them. None of them will come. Grandpa needs a caregiver. I\u2019m almost unable to walk. What good am I as a caregiver?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know about your children. Saw your Masha in town. She said to call when one of you dies, to invite people to the funeral. She asked if no one else had moved in, any claimants to the inheritance?\u201d \u201cReally, she asked about the inheritance?\u201d \u201cYes. She asked. Call her only when you die.\u201d \u201cLord Almighty! Why do they treat us like this?\u201d Vasiliyna cried. \u201cDon\u2019t, don\u2019t cry.\u201d Ivan sat next to her and hugged her shoulders. \u201cMe and Nastya won\u2019t leave you and grandpa. We\u2019ll always help however we can.\u201d \u201cThank you, Vanechka, and thank your Nastya too. What would we do without you? We would have died without your help.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve been thinking, grandma Vasiliyna. Dusya\u2019s daughter works at the district hospital as a nurse. We need to arrange for her to look after grandpa. And throw in a bit of money for her. I\u2019ve already talked to her. She agreed. We agreed on 10,000 a month. Think grandpa Pavel\u2019s pension will cover it?\u201d \u201cOh, Vanechka, what a good boy you are! What would I do without you? Of course, it\u2019s enough. Thank you, sonny, for the help and for arranging a caregiver for my grandpa.\u201d Vasiliyna cried again, this time out of joy. A huge, seemingly unsolvable problem of caring for grandpa in the hospital was resolved for her. From under the oilcloth on the table, Vasiliyna pulled out 5,000 rubles and handed them to Ivan. \u201cSonny, this is for your gas and the little things you spend on us and grandpa.\u201d Ivan initially resisted but took the money after some persuasion. \u201cDon\u2019t cry, neighbor, we won\u2019t abandon you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grandpa recovered and returned home. Dusya\u2019s daughter greatly helped until now and even now stopped by to help the Samoylovs, she also brought doctors to examine grandpa and grandma. And brought medicine from the district and taught them how to take it properly. Gave them injections and IVs if doctors prescribed them. Pavel did not abandon the chickens and the goat. He looked after them himself. Wanted to have their own eggs and milk. That\u2019s how Pavel and Vasiliyna lived under the care of neighbors. The children never visited. Never visited their parents in the hospital or at home. When grandpa got a little better, Vasiliyna told Pavel that Ivan had seen Masha and about the inheritance and their whole conversation. Pavel was very angry, shouted, cursed. Took his heart medicine. Didn\u2019t sleep all night. And the next morning he sat Vasiliyna down in front of him and said:<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s what I\u2019ve thought, Vasiliynka. It\u2019s the fourth year we\u2019re suffering with our illnesses. You broke, none of the children appeared, didn\u2019t hold us, didn\u2019t see any help or support from them. They didn\u2019t come even once and didn\u2019t call. We dedicated our whole lives to them. Raised them, educated them, bought apartments for all of them, gave money to the grandchildren. Until the last day, we supplied them with meat and money. Remember, just before your fall, the day before it, we slaughtered a piglet, and they all came over that weekend to take meat, loaded vegetables into their cars by the bagful. Not one of them ever brought us a gift, not a treat with them. Not even a handful of candies or a cake for tea. Never happened. Other people\u2019s children and grandchildren come to their parents with cars full of groats, flour, candies, all sorts. But not ours. Ours always just took and never gave us anything in return. Let alone treats, we never saw love or respect from them. It\u2019s the fourth year we\u2019re sick. Where are our children? There\u2019s no one. And Ivan and Nastya are next door every day. If it weren\u2019t for them, we would have long been in the ground with you. And they are better to us than our own children. I\u2019ve decided this, Vasiliyna\u2014we\u2019ll write a will for them. That after our death, everything goes to them. Good kids. They\u2019ll be worthy heirs. They certainly won\u2019t leave us and will look after us, if anything. Do you agree with me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI agree, Pashenka, of course, I agree.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen tomorrow we\u2019ll go to the district with Ivan to see a notary and arrange everything as needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
And they did. Vasiliyna and Pavel wrote a will for Ivan and Nastya with lifelong maintenance. That was a week ago. But yesterday, Ivan saw their son in town and they talked. Ivan asked why they don\u2019t visit their parents. The son bragged about his good life in front of the neighbor, explained that he\u2019s very busy, he\u2019ll come sometime. That the parents have everything anyway, so they probably aren\u2019t suffering. And he\u2019s a busy man, no time for him. And if anything, call. We\u2019ll come. Ivan told the neighbors about the meeting. Vasiliyna cried, grandpa walked around upset and grunted. And then he shouted and ordered his wife\u2014Not once, hear me, not once, are you to call them. Never. Understood? -Understood, Pavlik understood. \u2014 And while grandpa was away, she picked up the phone and called her son. Grandpa came in, saw the phone in his wife\u2019s hands, snatched it from her, and went to the porch. Apparently, he felt bad during the night and died.<\/p>\n
Someone knocked on the door. Ivan entered. Saw the lying grandpa, gasped, and ran out. Soon the ambulance arrived, then the police. The whole village buried grandpa. The children weren\u2019t invited. That\u2019s how grandpa wanted it. Without the children. The children came themselves. Three days later. Everyone. And the grandchildren too. The small house barely fit all three families. They all came as always with empty hands. Hungry. They started rummaging through the refrigerators, even bothered to go down to the basement.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, why is everything empty here? Where\u2019s the meat? Where are the supplies? What are we going to eat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo supplies. Where would they come from? No one stocked up. No one bought. And you\u2019ll eat what you brought with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we didn\u2019t bring anything. We thought everything would be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGo, buy. The store is still open.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNoooo. That\u2019s not enough. There\u2019s a cafeteria. Let\u2019s go, everyone, we\u2019ll eat there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone gathered, drove to the cafeteria. Nastya came in. Brought a small pot of soup for grandma Vasiliyna and another pot with potatoes and cutlets. \u201cEat, grandma Vasya. You need to eat. At least a little. Or you won\u2019t have any strength. And you need to live on. Don\u2019t be too upset. If anything, we\u2019ll be nearby.\u201d \u2014 Soon the children appeared. They arrived full and satisfied. The son, seeing Nastya, rudely said to her: \u201cAnd you, what are you doing here? You have no business here. Go home. Look at you, attaching yourself.\u201d \u2014 Nastya was driven out. Everyone settled in and started the conversation. The son began:<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, here\u2019s the thing. You\u2019re alone now. You\u2019re sick. You walk poorly. You need care. We\u2019ve decided. There\u2019s a nice nursing home near the city. They have care and doctors. We\u2019ve arranged. They\u2019ll take you. And the house, and the tractors, and the cars we\u2019ll sell, and divide the money evenly among us. It\u2019s not good to let property go to waste. You and dad spent your whole lives accumulating it. If you\u2019re not there, everything will fall apart and become useless. What good is it to let property go to waste? That way you\u2019re under care, and we have money, and the estate is taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey decided without asking me. I don\u2019t need any nursing home. I\u2019ve lived in my own house, and I\u2019ll continue to live out my life there. No one will be selling anything. We\u2019ve already given you everything we could.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, mother, we\u2019re heirs too, not just you. In six months, we\u2019ll inherit like you and decide what to do with the estate and with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no inheritance. Dad transferred everything to me while he was alive. As if he knew you\u2019d swoop in to take your own mother\u2019s property. You came here, but why didn\u2019t you even visit dad\u2019s grave, didn\u2019t honor his memory? You weren\u2019t even at the funeral. Neither I nor dad were needed it seems, but the estate is needed, to sell. No shame, no conscience at all. Shameless. Insensitive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll visit. Where\u2019s the grave going? It won\u2019t run away. We\u2019ll make it.\u201d \u2014 And somehow quietly, quietly, one by one, they all left that evening. No one even stayed the night. Ivan and Nastya came in the evening and took Vasiliyna with them. After Pavel\u2019s funeral, she lived with them. Vasiliyna lived exactly one year after her husband\u2019s death and died on the day of his death. Ivan and Nastya buried Vasiliyna. The children weren\u2019t at the funeral. That\u2019s how Vasiliyna wanted it. On the fortieth day, Vasiliyna\u2019s children came. The gate was locked. Someone lived in the house. Vasiliy, the son of Pavel\u2019s eldest daughter, climbed over the fence and opened the gate. Everyone approached the house. Nastya came out of the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing? Who allowed you to break the gate?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing here? This is our house. You have no business here. We\u2019re the owners. This is our parents\u2019 house, so it\u2019s our house.\u201d \u201cRemembered about the parents when they were gone. But why weren\u2019t you at the funeral? You\u2019re the children.\u201d \u201cBuried or not buried. What difference does it make. The house is ours. Inheritance.\u201d \u201cThere\u2019s nothing of yours here. Pavel and Vasiliyna transferred everything to us while they were alive. We looked after them, we buried them. They were like parents to us. And where were you all these five years? Didn\u2019t look after? Didn\u2019t care? Abandoned them.\u201d \u201cNone of your business. It\u2019s not your concern. Vacate the house. The heirs have arrived. We\u2019re going to sell the house.\u201d \u201cYou won\u2019t be selling anything. The house is ours by Vasiliyna\u2019s will.\u201d \u201cNothing. Nothing, we won\u2019t give up just like that. We\u2019ll sue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pavel and Vasiliyna\u2019s children filed lawsuits to have the will declared invalid and to recognize themselves as the lawful heirs. The court rejected their suits. The house remained with Ivan and Nastya, who honor the memory of the elders and look after their graves and remember them with bright memories and love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pasha, Pasha, where are you?\u201d Vasiliyna called her husband. It was already 6 AM. They had argued yesterday, and her husband had spent the night on the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n