‘There is nothing better than peace’

I worked at the hospital. I worked in a sterilization room, and as a housekeeping nurse, I worked with a steam sterilizer, as a registration clerk, I worked as a housekeeping assistant for the chief medical officer. When I was 35, I enrolled in a vocational school. I needed it for my job.

My husband and I have been together for 25 years. On 3 March 2019, it will be seven years as he has been bedridden. From time to time, he has some lucid intervals, and then he asks: ‘Why am I lying? I want to go to the toilet to relieve myself.’ I say: ‘You will not be able to do it.’ ‘Why will I not be able to do it?’ I tell him: ‘You have been lying here for a long time.’ And when he learns how long he has been lying like that he starts to cry. I ask him: ‘Tell me, what can I do? I’ll do everything I can.’ He likes reading. And he does not need glasses for reading. So, thank goodness, he has at least something to be busy with.

When shelling starts, my husband is here while I go to the basement. There are beds there too. When my husband cries on the ground floor, I run to him. Then back. He tells me: ‘Stay with me.’ I answer: ‘I cannot. Better I run there and back. There it is scary too. Do you understand?’ That is stress, it is craziness... There is nothing better than peace, nothing better for us than to have a normal life.

We were very poor. We were so happy about the humanitarian aid. Once I even cried, honestly. So, many thanks that there is such a person who helps us. On TV you can see that he helps everyone.

I do not like to talk about hardships. Anyway, we do not lose heart; everything will be fine.