Pyotr Sergeyevich also entered, there was no end to his joy, but his first words were: Let us pray to God! He grew old, he was slumped, he was already in his seventy-first year. Thin and sickly-looking. Marfa Pavlovna prepared dinner, laid out the food I had brought, and said: "Alyosha! It's hungry in the village, they eat quinoa, I'll take some things to the people, and especially to my grandmother Anna, and I'll call for dinner with us now. I took what I found necessary, and the three of us stayed and began to tell and question each other. Presently Marfa Pavlovna and grandmother Anna came, dined, and talked almost till nightfall.

Two days later, Maryushka and I went to the village council, registered the marriage and returned to the settlements. But it was a formal marriage, it was necessary to get married in a church, and only then would we become husband and wife. The registered marriage was celebrated with a cake and grandmother Anna was invited. Almost five years passed, she suffered a lot of troubles, two sons were killed, a daughter with two children died in a fire, the house burned down, but the grandmother did not change, a friendly smile often appeared on her face, she was friendly and kind. Several times I brought her to us in Moscow, and the house became happier and brighter because of the fragile little old woman.

He stayed for five days and took Maryushka to Moscow, joyful, happy, blessed by Pyotr Sergeyevich and Marfa Pavlovna. I endured a lot of hardships, I was facing death throughout the war, but I received the biggest blow when I came home. We arrived, overflowing with the happiness of mutual love, entered the room (we lived in a communal apartment), shouting: Mom, mom! Maryushka has brought my wife, look at my beauty!, and Maryushka is really a beauty, such as you will not find, and there is so much affability, charm and inner attractiveness on her face, you can't take your eyes off. Of course, she is dressed like a peasant: a headscarf, a collective farm katsaveika, and rough shoes.

Mom got up. She came up to us, looked at Maryushka coldly, calmly, and instead of a joyful greeting suddenly said: "Don't you understand? He brought the village to the house, he couldn't find an intelligent one in Moscow, and without greeting her, she left the room. We were confused, the words spoken with contempt and malice hurt me and Maryushka, and, above all, it is not clear why. My mother knew that I was going after Maryushka, she knew that this family came out and saved me. Know. Mother disliked Maryushka, so much so that life became unbearable, remarks, condemnations, spiteful words were heard.

Maryushka did not respond to any of her mother's words, she prayed in her mind, fulfilling everything that her mother demanded. I was already working in the box, and Maryushka entered night school in the eighth grade. We lived there for four months, and I saw that it was impossible to live like this. I tried to talk to my mother several times, but I heard nothing but insults and insults from Maryushka and me. I didn't understand what happened to my mother, I always saw in her a deeply religious person, sympathetic and kind, but now?

He knew that she was the spiritual daughter of Father Arseny. No one knew where he was in 194546, whether he was shot or died in the camp. I talked to Nina Alexandrovna, Vera Danilovna, Yulia Sergeevna, Natalia Petrovna, my mother's friends in the community. He told us about our situation, introduced us to Maryushka, they fell in love with her, and we even lived with Irina Nikolaevna for some time. They talked to their mother, but she became even more angry.

I didn't understand my mother's attitude, my anger, and I saw that nothing would change her now. Upon our arrival in Moscow, we were married in Irina Nikolaevna's apartment, and the wedding was performed by Father Eugene, who had come from Kostroma, and who had already served in the church under Patriarch Alexis. We lived for almost seven months in an atmosphere of complete hatred, and the further it went, the worse it got. It became impossible to live together. We went to Mytishchi, rented a room with great difficulty, gave the money for two months in advance, packed our things and told my mother that tomorrow we were leaving, it would be easier for you without us.

"A tablecloth," she answered. I asked to leave work, we got up in the morning, I had to leave. Mom is lying and delirious, they measured the temperature of 40.6C, where to think about leaving! My mother was ill for three months, bilateral pneumonia, influenza with some Latin letter, a severe complication on the kidneys. Maryushka came out, and Irina Nikolaevna and Yulia Sergeevna treated her, they got antibiotics and penicillin, which were difficult to get at that time. Day and night, Maryushka was on duty and at the same time continued to study. My mother recovered, but she became even more angry with me and Maryushka. I talked to my sister, and we went to Mytishchi for the second time, rented another room and decided to leave on Sunday morning, on Friday morning my mother left, warning that she would come on Sunday. He said that we were leaving, but he did not hear anything in response.

We went to the church in the Donskoy Monastery (the small cathedral of the Intercession of the Mother of God), for some reason the church was rarely opened and mainly on major holidays, we always tried to come here, because it was blissful to pray, especially at the tomb of Patriarch Tikhon. Calmness and tranquility immediately seized the soul, in this temple we rested from worries, anxieties and as if we went to another world, leaving everything worldly.

We walked home, it was a long way, we walked and prayed, occasionally we talked about tomorrow, and again each of us prayed silently. We couldn't pray at home, my mother refused to pray together, and when we started to pray out loud, she interfered with us.

Sunday came, and my mother came in bewildered, detached, nervously jerking her shoulders, began to rearrange some books, and when we began to say good-bye and I asked her to bless us, she turned abruptly, went to Maryushka, and the thought flashed through my mind: she was going to hit me.

Get out of my house, and never come again! We left depressed and didn't understand anything. That's how our life turned out. We lived in Mytishchi for a year, moving to other apartments twice, then, by the grace of the Lord, the company where I worked gave me a one-room apartment in Moscow at that time, it was a real miracle. Maryushka and I longed for Marfa Pavlovna and Pyotr Sergeyevich, we went to the village several times, life there was hungry and hard: everything that the collective farm grew was taken away by the state.

It was necessary to take Marfa Pavlovna and her grandfather away. We understood that it would be difficult for the four of us to live in a one-room apartment, and it would be even more difficult to get a residence permit in Moscow. However, even here the Grace of God manifested itself, our institution built several houses near Moscow, one of the employees of the ministry (we were subordinate to him) needed a one-room apartment in Moscow, and I was offered two rooms in a three-room apartment in new buildings. I agreed, we lived for a year, but for some reason no one was moved in during this time. Maryushka and I prayed, and decided to go to see our CEO. It was difficult to get in, but he accepted me. He told me that I wanted to bring my wife's and grandfather's mother from the village, the room in the apartment had been empty for more than a year. He listened kindly and said, "We'll see." I decided that the response of the bosses meant a polite refusal, but a week later they called from the housing department of the enterprise and told me to come for a warrant. And the fact that the general received me and the fact that he received a room was a great mercy of the Lord.

We followed Marfa Pavlovna and Pyotr Sergeyevich. Pyotr Sergeyevich was ill, his condition was extremely serious, there was no need to think about moving to Moscow, I had to leave, Maryushka remained in the village, fortunately she had summer holidays. Four days later, I received a telegram: Grandpa had died.