Lidia Nikolaevna Chumik

Childhood: Lidia was born on February 22, 1941, a few months later the war began, and her father Nikolai went to the war. Her mother Olga raised 4 children alone. Lidia remembered her childhood full of hardships and anxiety about whether her father would return alive. As if to tell fortunes, she threw a piece of coal and it always turned out that he would return, so she wanted to cheer up her mother. And he returned! One of the few who went to the war. Although they lived by the lake, she was never able to learn to swim because she was too shy - she didn't have any panties. They sat at home all winter, had no shoes and rarely ate enough to fill up. After elementary school, she had to walk through the forest to another village with a loaf of bread and some potatoes - all that was given for a week. “I was always surprised that I stayed alive and was not eaten by wolves, ” - she said. Youth: At 14, her mother took her to work in the city. Being still very young, she cooked and cleaned, looked after the children in the family for living. Lidia recalls one incident when she and her mother went to the market, where all their money was stolen. That is, her savings, which she had been saving for a coat for a whole year. Moving to Leningrad: With great difficulty she got a passport and was able to go to Leningrad to study. She entered college and remembered those years as the brightest ones - a hostel, studying, three meals a day. Lidia was such a hard worker that everyone wanted to work with her, she was simply in great demand. And she ate with the same appetite as she worked. Life in America: In 2016, they moved to America and life changed. Lidia spent all day swinging and listening to music. She would return home when it was already dark outside and proudly declare: "I walked all day!" She really liked living in America. "Well, Olga, you've made our life perfect, we live like in paradise!" she said. Grandma Lida: For her first granddaughter, Yanochka, Grandma Lida went to the store every day to buy fresh kefir. Taking the cream that Yanochka gave her, she remembered and thanked her every day. Grandma Lida will forever remain the jelly granny for Nicole, from the days when she cooked jelly for her grandmother and she accepted it with a smile and gratitude. Smiling, she looked at the grown-up Hunter and Hanna that often danced for them and said: “Well done, Yana – good children!” Baba Lida impatiently waited for Ilya to start a heated battle of dominoes. She played better than anyone even after the hospital. She carefully looked around the table and made her decision, then simply opened her palm, making the last winning move. After the game, Lidia triumphantly said to her husband: "Well, what? Another goat!"

Lidia Nikolaevna Chumik

February 22, 1941 - October 17, 2025