"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.

It was heavy on my soul, a wonderful, deeply religious man, who brought up Marfa Pavlovna and Maryushka in the faith and had a great influence on me, died. The grief of Marfa Pavlovna, Maryushka, and myself is difficult to express even now, many years later. Pyotr Sergeyevich was buried, Marfa Pavlovna had to be taken away, he came to the chairman, asked him to let him go, answered: "There are no people on the collective farm, I can't. I spoke for a long time, and he stubbornly answered: "I can't." But then he said frankly: "You will bring the accordion and a wristwatch, I will let you go and give you a certificate." I went to Moscow, got a trophy accordion and bought a watch. The chairman gave me a certificate and a passport, and I took Marfa Pavlovna to our home.

My god! How hard it was for her to part with her house, the estate, the grave of Pyotr Sergeyevich, she shed many tears. Marfa Pavlovna arrived, and with her joy, light and spiritual peace entered our home with deep prayer, even the relationship with my mother ceased to seem hopeless and tragic.

At first, I called my mother at home every day, told me not to call again, I began to call once a week; When she heard my voice, she did not answer, hung up the phone, and learned about my mother's life from her sister, who treated Maryushka well.

Two years passed, Maryushka passed all the exams as an external student (in one year), received a certificate of maturity and in the same year entered the First Medical Institute, the competition was huge, but she passed the exams with an excess of three points, in this great mercy of God was manifested; To be honest, it was difficult for outsiders to understand why a simple peasant girl had overcome three years of high school in a year and brilliantly passed the exams for medical school, but I knew my wife, I knew her determination, hard work and indomitable desire to become a doctor and help people.

Marfa Pavlovna quickly got used to Moscow, and her first visit after her arrival was to the nearest church, and all three of us went. My god! How much joy and happiness was on her face when we defended the Liturgy and she confessed and received Communion after many, many years of separation from the church while living in the village. Maryushka and I told Marfa Pavlovna about our relationship with my mother and how no amount of entreaties or persuasion had given us the opportunity to change her view of both of us.

Marfa Pavlovna listened silently and said: "The Lord is merciful, in time this delusion will pass." Let us pray to the Mother of God, asking Her for help. Your mother, Alexei, is very good, but a veil of anger obscures her love for you now, and her mother's jealousy makes her hate Maryushka.

It's been more than three years since Mom left us; On Sunday, September 21, the day of the Nativity of the Mother of God, we were in church in Moscow, arrived home at 12 o'clock in the afternoon, and everyone went about their business: Maryushka was studying, I was making something, Marfa Pavlovna was reading a book by Ignaty Brianchaninov and, when she did not understand something, asked questions as best she could, answered. The bell rang, Marfa Pavlovna went to open the door, voices were heard in the hall, and the door opened. Mom came in, smiling and happy.