"You think of him, don't you?" Alice asked. At times when Bellas gaze flew away and sadness and unfulfilled longings appeared, there could only be one reason.
Bella nodded.
"Seventh April ... Sixteen years have passed, but I still miss her so much ..."
It was Bellas father. On April 7, 1994, Valery Aurisyan died in a car accident. At that time, he was working for a firm in what would be called "manager" by today's standards, and was on his way to another firm with a service car. At one intersection, the Kamaz driver ignored the "give way" sign and crashed into Valeriays car. The collision was so intense that there was only a scrap left from the car.
Bella was only eight years old when she lost her father. Ten years after that, Bella never mentioned his father in talks. When asked, Bella merely replied that he had died tragically and that all hi say.
It was only in recent years that she had started talking about it and allowed us to look into her family life and her father's personality. Valery Aurisyan was an engineer who was sent to Latvia from Armenia in 1980. He was a little over twenty at the time. At work, he met Iris, Bellas mother, the two got married, and their first born, son Alville, was born in the spring of 1982, and Valery decided to stay in Latvia. It wasn't an easy decision, but he thought it would be easier for him to get here than for his family in Armenia. Valery learned the Latvian language and connected his future life with Latvia. Bella adored his father - family was the most important thing in his life. Less than thirteen years after the wedding, he still wore Bellas mom on his hands. He found time for the children, even when he was tired, and never changed the time they could devote to squeaking in front of the TV. During the broadcast of hockey and football games, Bella and Alvila both had to settle for less attention, though Valerie managed to keep track of both: the game and the play of his children. Father's death changed everything. As Bellas mom later said, it was "as if the sun had always shone before, but then suddenly you realize you're standing in the rain."
"We all miss her - me, my mom, Alville ... Only we rarely talk about it ... Dad's departure left such a void that we doesn't even want to realize how big it is ..."
"Your mom wasn't with anyone anymore?" Alice asked.
"She had some kind of relationship, but it was serious ... not with any of them. And she didn't live with any of them - Mom didn't want us to be a stepfather. No, in fact, we and Alville didn't want us to have a stepfather, "Alushta smiled lightly. "My mom said that the kind of love, mutual understanding and respect she had with my father can only be experienced once in her life."
Bella was silent and Alice said nothing more. The next moment Bella had jumped off the bench and spoke in a completely different voice:
"Listen, we came here to feed the ducks. Not just sit!"
Without waiting for her answer, she began to walk towards the river. Bella had come to visit Alice, who lived on Agenskalns and had both gone to Arkadia Park. There was nothing left for Alice, only follow - she knew that Bella would not talk about that anymore. The moments of openness she had always passed as suddenly as they had begun.
To be continued......
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Countryside life Story Telling Team (c) 2019
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