Ira Ryvkina

This is a photograph of Ira Ryvkina, my granddaughter. It was taken in 1996 in St. Petersburg in my apartment. The photo was taken by her father, Mark Ryvkin. I have a granddaughter, Ira, who's 14 years old. When she 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?' At present my granddaughter is very interested in Jewish life. In general she is more interested in Jews than Russians. When she watches television or reads newspapers, she frequently asks us, 'Is this person a Jew? Is it a Jewish surname?' After my husband's death in 1990, I visited the synagogue several times and took my granddaughter with me. I don't know how to pray. Ira was in the synagogue with me during Rosh Hashanah.