The Boarding School.

    When I was 12 years old my mother had to leave her work at the restaurant where she was a chef cook. It was necessary to take me to school and meet after lessons, an arm was needed to hold during walking. She went to the factory where my father worked and they went to work such way that at least one of them was with me. One day one worked from 8 o'clock in the morning till 8 o'clock in the evening, the next was night  shift and afterwards two free days. It was very comfortable but soon I've become too weak for running from the one school floor to the other between the lessons. My four-storey school gave big problems to my slow legs. So my parents started looking for something more suitable.

     Just before New Year, when I was 13, they had informed me that after the holiday I'll go to a boarding school for disabled children. Every weekend they would take me home of course. There I'll get all needed treatment and soon will feel better. For a child who most of all was afraid of any state institution and staying there alone...well,  those words sounded as a death sentence. There was only one thought in my mind, "My parents don't need me any more. I'll live like an orphan without home." I went to the far room where nobody could see my tears, stood by the window looking at lights in the building in front of my home. Everybody prepared to the holiday, somewhere Christmas Trees were shining and for me there wasn't place here any more. "Well, if you don't want to stay me at home, so I can go to my grandparents, they love me and would be happy to take me forever", thought crying girl in despair.

     So often in our life we aren't able to guess what does a thing or event bring us. Crying bitterly I couldn't even imagine that I'm coming into the best period of my life, the most happy one. It's impossible to know beforehand how this or that thing would turn to you, so it's better don't hurry up with emotions just wait and see. The sorrow can make you happy later.

                       

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Boarding school

On the 11th of January, the first day after winter holidays, I was brought to the new school. The gloomy, old building looking as a prison made my moods even lower. There were so many long, forged stairs inside it that I wondered in horror how would I find the way without compass. For the first time in my life I have seen so many disabled children in the same place. They looked quite different not like me. Only later I've known how difficult was to get the place for me in that school where I was only one with such disease.

   My parents wrote to Moscow and only after the order from the ministry the director took me there. About hour my mother and me went from one office to another, from the director to the doctor. Then a woman took us to my future bed-room where 10 beds stood. My things were put into the wardrobe and a nightstand, the only furniture there. There wasn't an alive soul, everybody were in their classrooms and soon I was lead to mine. Again the long, confused way waited us, up and down stairs, through dark corridors.

       The door opened and I've seen a woman about 50 years old with red short hair and an amber beads on her neck, who stood in front of the group of pupils. Just one glance at them and I was in shock. If my ex classmates were little boys of 13 years, such age the boys are smaller than the girls, so these were men, some with slight moustache and even beard. Usually 35-40 children went to the same form but here there were ten boys and only two girls. 

My mom said me bye and left me there. I was showed the place near a big red haired man, it was impossible for me to call such huge person a boy. Later I've known that Valery was a very calm boy who studied with problems, as our surnames  started from the same letters so often my good marks were written to him by mistake and his bad ones went to me.

     It was Russian Literature lesson and soon the bell rang. The time between the lesson was so short that I could only know the girl's names. Lyudochka and Verochka learned there from the very beginning and were as close as sisters. Sure there wasn't place for me in their old time friendship. The children in that school often started studying not at the usual age of 7 years but 2-3 year later, that's why all looked so strange to me. I was the youngest one in the form.

The first days in the boarding school were so hard for me that I went to bed just after the supper which took place at 7 o'clock. By sure it was impossible to sleep while other girls came in and went out, talked and laughed loudly. I just stayed in my bed without a pillow quite exhausted waiting for the bed time for everybody. It was not until the end of the second week that my body had used to the endless stairs and busy style of life.

1983 year. I'm standing on the right

     We got up at 7 o'clock, made all morning procedures and had a kind of meeting in the big hall where all school made morning exercises by the same song on the tape recorder, it was "One way ticket". Every morning to hear the same song , well, it was too much. At 8 there was breakfast and in half of hour the first lesson started. I was very astonished to watch unusually free talks among pupils and teachers, they were a kind of family attitudes. Of course the boys tried to show the new girl how brave they were and acted even more free than usually. When in the beginning of the next school year two new girls came to our form I had great possibility to see the same clown show during lessons. By the way just those two girls had made my school life really different and very pleasant and we had become friends for years. But that's quite different story and I'll tell it later and now let's return to the hard sad period of the first months at school.

      At half past eleven we had the lunch and at 3 o'clock we had dinner. All time between them the lessons continued, there were also the treatment lessons three times a week. We should run to the dormitory and change our clothes as soon as possible to the sport ones and then ran to the treatment section of the building. During 45 minutes we made exercises and after a short pause went to the massage and other kinds of medical procedures. What would you think about if you hear, "Let's go to the Wool now"? Well, I also couldn't imagine what was it. A big piece of a woolen stuff took from the boiling water and put onto the back, then covered it well to save the hot and put a heavy bag with sand on the top of construction. Those who had ill legs or arms got it there, and after twenty minutes everyone was free. I'm not sure if this helped anybody but at least it wasn't painful.

With my classmate Olga

   After dinner there was time to make homework and all you wanted to do. At 7 o'clock everybody ran to have supper and afterwards we went into the yard for a walk. Usually I stayed on the porch sitting on the railing. At nine o'clock the bed time came but seldom anybody went to the bed so early. The were about two hundreds of students in the boarding school and only ten of them had the scoliosis and lead the different style of life. It was a great surprise to know that during the lessons I had to lie on the couch, which could be seen in a doctor's office . Of course my question about wearing the trousers was quite natural, I couldn't imagine myself lying while all the form sits at their desks.

The answer shocked me, "No, girl, you have right to wear only the school dress which you can get at the depository." Well, it was something special to get on my place such way that doesn't give the pleasure to the boys to see too much of my legs. How would you feel if everybody sat and you were like on the stage in the middle of the classroom? The sensation rather far from the happiness. But when two new girls appeared in September everything has changed. At once we felt privileged and could read books during lessons, sleep a little pretending hard thinking about the teacher's words.

    The school canteen was a huge hall situated in the basement. Also there the girls with back problems couldn't sit at the tables like others. We stood by the bar stands. My weakness which differ  me from

the other girls, who were almost health persons, gave me a lot of hard moments. It was necessary to eat as fast as possible to be able to sit on the window sill for having the rest before returning up to the class. I preferred to stay hungry but with enough forces to climb all those stairs.

       The food in that school was mostly very tasty, it seemed home made. The doctor counted how much of calories were good for us but I think she made some mistakes in her calculations because by the evening everybody felt hungry.

Ask anyone what do the children like most of all and you'll hear "sweets" in answer. It's strange but I've started to eat jam only at school. My mother always made various kinds of jam but it was impossible to persuade me to enjoy it. The time and hunger change tastes. A piece of bread with any jam brought from home and nothing else. May be a good company made such modest meal really tasty. Endless talks, funny and horrible stories, sometimes even songs, all this gave the charm to our evening hours in dormitory. The atmosphere was so warm and simple that even such voiceless person like me sang with everybody. Of course I paid attention to start singing only when others voices were enough strong to hide mine. Our repertoire was very diverse: folk and pop songs, cartoons and movie music and even the Soviet anthem sometimes when we felt like joking. The revolutionary songs sounded very comically when only night gowns were on the jumping "singers". It looked a kind of prison riot and from time to time a supervisor rushed in shouting in not too tender words.

           Supposing that after going to bed we at last became free from our careful supervisors you would be wrong. In the middle of the night they walked into the dormitories and watched if all slept as must do. For example those ones with back problems should sleep only in their plaster beds and only on the back otherwise the law breaker  would be awaked and said to assume the proper position. Do you want me to sleep without the pillow? OK. I must stand torments staying all night long in this 'cello case. OK. But don't ask me to make absolutely impossible things as lying on the back and sleeping the same time. Well, I wasn't awoken only those nights when we talked till the night  round and I could make the air of a deep sleeping person. They told that few years before my coming to the boarding school such ones like me were tied to the beds. Lucky me!

Never in my life I  used to catch a cold so often as that period at the boarding school. Partly it was because of my sitting on the porch with very light clothes on while my form had the sports lesson in the yard.

The teacher's imagination wasn't enough rich to find a kind of activity for my scanty forces and soon he had left me in peace just watch other children running, jumping and playing various games. The pauses were so short that I didn't dare to run upstairs to put on something warmer than my sandals and white socks, which in

autumn were too light. The coat was brought by my classmates from the cloak-room.

       But even a more important reason for my frequent colds was the strongest desire to stay at home for a week. I coughed with plaintive air and asked my parents with so ill voice to have mercy of me and

not to bring to school after weekend. The last argument sounded rather funny,  "I'll wash dishes after every meal only let me stay, please!"  My poor parents hardly stood those heart broken show and I enjoyed late morning sleeping and watching TV every time I wished, so to say for short the pleasure of home life.

    After my first returning to school every one who met me smiled happily and said how glad they were see me again. Why? I even didn't knew their names and they have noticed my absent and missed me. In my former school even two months weren't enough to make somebody feel glad seeing me back.