Memory Verse: I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. —Psalm 143:5

Dear Grandchildren,

Today I will tell you some stories that happened when I was eleven years old.

A Mean Neighbor

My sister Olga and I visited our mother in the village of Zaturcy during the months of July and August. She was married again. The little house which she built was still standing in the same place, but she lived in her husband’s house.

The other neighbors, our father’s relatives, kept on doing a whole lot of mean things to our crops. One day I went out to look around and saw many pigs eating the unharvested grain. I asked my mother why they were there, and she said that the neighbors always did things like that.

I decided to do something about it. I took our dog with me and came to a boy who was supposed to watch the pigs.

I said to him, “Whose pigs are these?”

He answered, “Ours.”

I asked, “Whose field is this?”

He said, “Panasiuk’s.”

I said, “Then what are your pigs doing in our field?” Then I yelled to our dog, “Go get them!” You should have seen the look on his face! But he didn’t bother us again.

Watching the Cows

That summer I helped to take care of the cows. There were about ten cows to look after. I took them out very early in the morning to the pasture and watched them so that they would not get into a field of some crop which they could destroy. There were no fences to mark the boundaries and it was very important to see that the cows never wandered away to someone else’s field.

Sometimes it would be boring to just stand, or to sit, but many boys and girls would try to do something interesting. Some would sing, and you could hear the singing coming from different directions. Since no one was very close, one could sing as loud as one wanted. I guess that was one reason why I offered to help looking after the cows that summer. I loved to sing, especially when no one was around. I used to sing one song after another until I got tired.

Usually I took our cows to pasture at sunrise. Do you know how early the sun gets up in July? Sometimes I would be very, very sleepy. I had to get up around 5:00 a.m. and bring the cows home again at 11:00. the cows would rest until 3:00 p.m., and I would take them back again until sundown.

A Trick

One morning, when I felt especially sleepy and tired, I decided to lie down for a while, never intending to fall asleep! But when I finally opened my eyes, I was very frightened. I looked around and there were no cows anywhere. I thought surely they had wandered away to our neighbor’s field. I felt like crying. I looked toward our house and saw the last cow disappear into the gate. What a relief it was to know they were safely home!

What had happened was: I fell so soundly asleep that when I did not return at eleven o’clock., my mother sent my stepfather to see if anything had happened to me. The cows did wander away, but they were still on our property. My stepfather and I used to kid each other a lot, and this time he decided to play a trick on me. He rounded up the cows very quietly and took them to the barn. I came home dejectedly, but instead of getting a lecture, they all laughed at me. We had someone visiting just at that time, and I felt very ashamed of myself.

My Education

My sister and I could have stayed with my mother and stepfather, but there would not have been any future for us in the village of Zaturcy. My mother encouraged us to go back to the orphanage. It sounds unreal, doesn’t it? But our mother knew what kind of life we would have if we stayed on the farm. Before my father died, he made my mother promise him that she would try to educate her children. She promised. She was very much aware that she could never keep this promise if we did not return to the orphanage.

In the orphanage they cared very much about our education. Girls with learning abilities would get scholarships. They also had private tutors who helped us with the German and Russian languages. We had to have classes during the summer months if we happened to lag behind in any subject. My mother was thinking of our own good when she advised us to go back to the orphanage.

Questions

1. When you look back on your memories, can you see God’s hand in your life?

2. How do you think God was active in these events during Nadzia’s life, even when she made mistakes?

3. Nadzia’s mother wanted the best for her, and that’s why she made her return to the orphanage. Do your parents ever ask you to obey even when you don’t understand? Does God?

4. –Nadzia Jadwiga McMillan