Natalia Ryvkina with her daughter Ira

This is a photograph of Natalia Ryvkina, my son's wife. It was taken in 1989 in Leningrad on the doorstep of Maternity House no.6. She holds her newborn daughter, Ira, in her arms. My son Mark got married in late 1988, at the age of 37. My daughter-in-law is Russian. Before his marriage, we talked a lot to our son regarding the problem of choosing a bride. But it happened. Our son informed his father about his wedding the day before. As for me, I had a presentiment that my boy was going to marry someone. It seems to me that our son knew our possible reaction; therefore he told us nothing beforehand and placed us before an accomplished fact. There was no wedding ceremony. There were no scandals, only my silent tears. It seems to me that my daughter-in-law visited our house for the first time, when their daughter was already born. My husband was already sick at that time. When Ira was born, my daughter-in-law had no wish to baptize her. By the way, when the girl was on a visit to her maternal grandmother and grandfather's in Novgorod region in the summer, they frequently asked her, 'Why aren't you baptized, why don't you have a godfather?' She came to me with this question, and I said, 'My dear! You have a lot of relatives, why do you want a godfather?'