On New Year’s Eve, we noticed an unfamiliar silhouette in the window opposite and rushed with all our feet to the neighbor’s house.

For the New Year, the whole family gathered in our house, sitting and waiting for the chimes. Suddenly, my husband looked out the window at the neighbor’s station and said, “Nadya, thieves!” And indeed - the light in the kitchen at the neighbor is burning, in the windows an unfamiliar silhouette in a down jacket is looking for something in the cabinets. And we knew that the whole family from the house opposite had gone to celebrate in the neighboring village, and the keys were left to us. We're running over there! We open the door, we call the police, and suddenly a frightened grandmother comes to meet us. She holds a kitchen towel in her hands, wipes away her tears and says, “Nothing.” Your youth will pass and your children will forget about you.



To say that we were surprised is to say nothing. We sat my grandmother at the table, began to calm down and find out what was going on. It turned out that this was the same aunt Marusya, about whom my husband told me. A kind woman who treated him as a child with the sweetest fruits from the garden. And now she's back from work in her hometown for the holidays. He meets the New Year alone in an empty house.

In life everything happens - with this motto it is much easier for me to explain the actions of other people and be kind to them. But the last situation that I witnessed on New Year’s Eve does not fit into my head. This is how you listen to the story of someone’s life and wonder: well, how could it be? On the brightest day of the year!



Aunt Marusa has turned 60, and it would be time to meet old age in the circle of the closest and dearest. But while Aunt Marusi was not here, a lot has changed both in our urban village and in the people themselves. She said that when she was little, she lived with her parents hard. He helped the garden and the fact that his father received rations due to his position in the agricultural sector.

Aunt Marusya married early, at the age of 18, and her wife was only 20 years old. It was perfectly normal to live with parents who had a bigger house. She and her husband lived with her mom and dad. Parents largely helped and, in fact, helped raise three children – two daughters and a son.



When she started talking about her children, she started crying again. But she continued her story. Her husband died early, at 45. And she left her adult children and parents, like many, went to work in Italy. Most of all, she wanted her daughters and son to live a better life than they had with her husband. The house from the parents got old and small, there was not enough money even for repairs, not that for renovation.

Why are daughters-in-law for whom you do good so ungrateful? Therefore, Marusya Olegovna decided to go to work to provide the family with everything necessary. She was helped by a neighbor who used to live down the street. The neighbor explained how and where to go, helped with the money and got a job in a small resort hotel. Since then, Aunt Marousi has had one goal - to earn the children a house.



At first, she ordered the repair of her parent’s hut with her earned money. By that time they had already passed away, and the son had just married. Here he is with his daughter-in-law and moved into the house while his mother saved up for two one-room ones for her daughters, each one for one. In the end, it turned out that Marusya Olegovna arranged life for everyone, but somehow forgot about her own. I remember only now, in the seventh decade. I decided to go home to my grateful children, just as the New Year was on the nose.

“The daughter-in-law is so settled in my house that I think I am a stranger here. Look what room she made me. It used to be a closet! Can you imagine? Chulan," my grandmother burst into tears.



I know my roommate, she's a pretty specific and non-talking woman. I always thought she was just being strict, so we talked to her husband more. If you needed to borrow something or help. We were always there to help because I never noticed anything wrong with this family.

But it turns out that the daughter-in-law Marusya Olegovna does not respect and, it seems, is not happy that her husband’s mother returned home and wants to stay here. I didn't know, for example, that this private house wasn't a son or a neighbor, but Aunt Marousi. I didn’t know that my car was a gift from my mother. I could not help but notice a lot of imported equipment.



God forbid, I will put something wrong in the kitchen, my daughter-in-law looks at me, she becomes frightened. Do I know where and what it is now?

During the New Year holidays, no one should be alone. I knew for a long time that the neighbors’ family was leaving for a few days, and I had spare keys just in case. But no one told me anything about Aunt Marousia. An elderly woman arrived a couple of days ago to celebrate the main holiday of the year with her sons and daughters, but the daughter-in-law ordered everything in advance. A few months earlier, she had bought tickets to a ski resort here nearby. Along with her husband's sisters. We took the kids and we went.

And the fact that Grandma will be back soon, no one thought and no one bought a ticket for her. She had no plans to invite her anywhere. So it turned out that on such an important day for all Marusya Olegovna is completely alone. We decided that we could not leave her like this – we called her to the table, met the chimes fight together, reassured and convinced that everything would be fine for sure. There were no other tickets, probably.



Unsplash But I think: indeed, youth will pass. I have children, and will they take care of me in my old age? Do you want to celebrate the New Year together? After all, it is terrible to be completely alone after so many years of hard work for the benefit of the family. And while someone works for years, even the closest can forget and distance themselves. Is that normal?