Our first Wednesday Hodgepodge in February is bringing back special memories of our dear Babushka Vera. We also called her our ‘little babushka’. The photo above was taken at Greg and my wedding in December of 1974.
Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for her questions this week.
1. Something you’ve waited for recently?
Dependable hot water.
2. What’s something you loved to do as a child?
So many things: Hide n Seek, Jacks, Tetherball
One of the best family memories is stopping at 31 Flavors (Ice Cream shop) on Beverly Blvd. after a church event for our two or three scoops! I chose orange sherbet and chocolate chip. One of my brothers always chose vanilla.
3. Something you learned from a grandparent?
From our little babushka Vera we learned you could still do amazing things with only one hand. Her left arm was amputated at the elbow when she was very young. With one arm and hand, she managed raising children, cooking blintzes, baking piroshky and creating beautiful embroidery just to name a few. The photo of her above was taken at Greg and my wedding shower at Bethany Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
She made all those goodies on her kitchen table for Christmas breakfast before we walked a few doors down for church. All her ‘people’ would stop into her apartment before church for a treat and the most Merry Christmas start to the day.
This embroidered tablecloth and napkins was my little babushka’s wedding gift to us.
4. The most visited cities in the world last year (according to this site) were-Bangkok, Paris, London, Dubai, and Singapore. Have you been to any of the cities mentioned? Which would you most like to see? How do you feel about international travel in general these days?
Of these cities, I’ve only been to London and would choose London to see again from this list of cities. Still hopeful for travel to the United Kingdom. I’m a comfort traveler so I’d avoid any country where I wouldn’t feel comfortable about language barriers, etc. There are enough wonderful International adventures for me in the UK.
5. February is the perfect month to ______________________.
February is the perfect month to be loving and kind to one another.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Our Babushka Vera was promoted to heaven to be with her Savior in March of 1980. She was a Godly woman who prayed for all her grandchildren and for all her grandchildren’s future spouses. She prayed for our Pop’s salvation and for the salvation of her own husband. After they were married and he became a follower of Christ, our Dzedushka Fedot became a Baptist Minister. He was killed in Iran just after our parents immigrated to the USA after World War II. Our little Babushka immigrated to the USA with my Uncle and his family without her husband. I am so looking forward to seeing Babushka in heaven and seeing Dzedushka for the first time in heaven.
A long post about our Little Babushka is here.
I’m way behind this week after a busy full and wonderful weekend and then our Hot Water Tank repair job that took our son Dan and Greg all morning into the afternoon on Monday to fix. Hey…but we have some hot reliable water now and it will hopefully last a while.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Precious
Hello,
Wonderful memories of your grandmother. I remember playing jacks, I loved that game.
Great photos and post. Take care, have a great day!
So glad you have some hot water finally! I forgot about tether ball and jacks too. We loved them both. Such sweet memories of your little babushka! Have a nice day.
There is nobody else like your own grandmother.
Your Babushka is an inspiration for us all…thank you, Ellen, for sharing about her. I was thinking one day last week about the wonderful series you did a few years back about your family when they immigrated to the US. It’s something I’ve never forgotten.
Your description of your Babushka is wonderful. She must have been a strong woman!!
Your Babushka sounds like a saint. What a wonderful woman. Jacks…it’s so sad that kids today don’t even know what that is!
I loved reading about your Babushka. What an amazing lady! Love the top photo on your wedding day 🙂 B x
Hi Ellen,
I love this post!! I’ve always thought “babushka” was a fun word to say. 😀 :D Your Babushka Vera was certainly an inspiring woman!! It sounds like she loved her family devotedly. That spread of Christmas food looks wonderful, and the tablecloth and napkins are absolutely beautiful. I wish people gave wedding gifts like that nowadays. I agree with you about being a comfort traveler, and I, too, would love to visit London again (and Dublin, as well).
I enjoyed your hodgepodge answers and very much enjoyed seeing the family pictures. Have a great week, my friend!
Hugs,
Denise
Hi Ellen, I enjoyed learning about your Babushka! I was married in 1974. Time goes by way to quickly! I would like to go to London and see where they film Call the Midwife.
I’ve now read both posts. How wonderful and beautiful it is to read about your Baboesjka. I found it very special.
What a special lady.
I had two wonderful grandmothers too. So special.
I enjoyed reading about your sweet grandmother and doing a little catching up on back posts as I get back into blogging. copied a yummy recipe too! (And I’m glad you got your hot water back!)
I learned something new about your grandmother. It’s amazing to read what she all did with one hand. Such wonderful memories!
aint gonna lie – got a little emotional reading and seeing the pics of Babushka – wow!
Those seventy styles were amazing! And the ‘our Little Babushka’ what a blessing to have in your life!
That is a precious photo at your wedding. Sorry about your hot water. Hide and seek was so much fun. That is sad about your grandmother’s arm but she sounds like she was amazing. Those are sweet photos you shared. What a lovely wedding gift she made for you. Your random thought is sad. She has been through so much. It will be nice to see them in Heaven but I hope it is a long time before that happens. Take care and God Bless.
Sweet photo from the wedding!! Babushka Vera sounds like a wonderful example of a faithful, godly lady. What precious memories. 🙂 Have a great week!