This is me in my office in polyclinic #5. This photo was taken in Odessa in 1975. My patient took this photo during his appointment.
After returning to Odessa it took me a long time to find a job. Health care department in Odessa told me there were no vacancies for me. My older son Mikhail stuttered when speaking. In 1958 I took him to Kiev to consult a professor who was an expert in stuttering. Mikhail's reading improved after this. I also had an appointment with Deputy Health Minister asking him to help me get a job. Deputy Minister was a sympathetic person. He gave me a letter addressed to Odessa regional health care department requesting them to help me with employment as I was an officer's wife. Odessa department offered me a job in Illichevsk. It was difficult to work there. Regular buses were rare and I had to commute on random traffic. It took a lot of my time. I worked in Illichevsk for about half year. Then I was offered to take up a vacancy of neuropathologist in district polyclinic #5. The polyclinic occupied a part of a building in Deribassovskaya Street. I always liked my work. There was a good staff in our polyclinic. I never faced any anti-Semitism. We celebrated all holidays together. We celebrated 23 February (Soviet Army Day) and 8 March (International Women's Day). I took advanced teachers' training twice: in Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk. I retired in 1990, when I turned 70. I missed going to work. I sometimes feel jealous when I see people in white robes. We recently sorted out our correspondence: there were many greeting cards from my patients. Although I retired they kept sending me cards on New Year and 8 March. I don't know whether I was a good doctor: neuropathology is a difficult science, but I was always eager to help my patients and did a lot of good with my kind and careful attitude toward them.
