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The unfortunate news has reached us, that one of our grandmothers, Chrysanthi, has recently passed away. She liked the idea of this project and supported it. Our thoughts are with her, and our friend, Alkistis.

Chrysanthi Chalkidou (1926)

My grandmother Chrysanthi is 87 years old, though she insists on 82. She used to be a very pretty elegant woman, sewing and wearing nice clothes and always taking care of herself. Even now, she rolls her hair every Sunday to go to church.

I think we are very different with my grandmother and we disagree on some things but there is something we do together every summer and still enjoy it: this special sour cherry liqueur. We start early in the morning at the open market, picking the best sour cherries from the same guy every year. We wash the cherries and take the stones out. Then we put the cherries in a jar, filling half of it, and add 2 cups of sugar. This has to stay in the sun for 1 month until the sugar melts into sirup. Then we fill the rest of the jar with cognac, adding cinnamon and clove and bring it back to the sun for another 2 week. We strain the dring, taste it together and store in nice bottles. When someone visits my grandmother, she likes to offer this liquer and proudly add: “My granddaughter made it this year!“

Alkistis Thomidou

Sussanna Kryazheva (1924)

I am extremely proud of this grandmother. If my mother’s mum had created the magic world of my childhood, baba Sana has given me the magics of the Memory and of the Family History – my inner support in life.

In my child years, she seemed strict and serious to me, but when I have grown, I suddenly saw her as an unthinkably strong and beautiful person with a very vivid attitude, with a very sharp mind and of a great erudition. I am amazed, how freely she can orient herself in what is going on – in Russia, in the world, in what is happening on the whole planet. And what is most important, she is able to connect it all to her own historical dimension.

She was born and grown up in Leningrad, then, before the blockade, she had to evacuate to Siberia, where she studied medicine, then she followed her husband-diplomat to China, where she taught Russian to Chinese kids, and then, after few years, she was back to Siberia, refusing to live in Moscow. So she experienced much more, comparing to an average Soviet person. She used to tell with a smile, that she saw both Stalin (at the Red square in Moscow) and Mao Zedong (at Tiananmen square in Beijing), or that once she was received in Kremlin for some celebration dinner, or when once she was at the Black sea, the famous Soviet opera tenor Ivan Kozlovsky had a room above them, and every time seeing her he would give compliments. Having seen all that and being aware of her own family roots, she became the person I know now.

My true meeting with her started when I first opened her photo albums and she began to tell: about her youth and friends (so bright and lively, as it was yesterday), about the fates of her parents, about the difficulties of those times, about far relatives, about life of her grand-grand-parents. Each story had so many rich details, that it wasn’t hard to dive in those times and feel like I know all these people and places personally. When I listened to her and when I still do, I can not have enough of her power of life and of her love for life, when you are facing your path with your eyes open, and you do not forget anything, you do not paint out some sad or dark pages – no, you take everything with you and attach it in to the life album, colorful, deep in senses, complete in the vision of the world.

Almost all her stories Baba Sana ends with a saying: “Everything has had its place: both good, and bad”. In my youth I was confused to hear it, but now I see it as my ‘safety bag’ – life turns different sides to us, but how we take it or what people we become after that, depends only on ourself.

Libuse Hrabova (1928)

I'm Klara van Duijkeren, 24 years old and living in Amsterdam. I never knew my Dutch grandmother, but I'm lucky to have a good relationship with the mother of my mother, who is Czech. I'm actually staying with her right now, because of my master thesis and I'm really happy to have some quality time with her. I think she's really inspiring and a special person, I will try to explain shortly why.

My grandmother actually has two different personalities . First of all, she is a professor in history, always passionately telling her stories about medieval times. It’s absolutely not easy to understand everything she says and to keep up with all the different names and dates. Not seldom you find yourself trapped in a web of German priests and Italian bishops within only ten minutes of oration. A while ago I’ve changed my listening tactic into a more active-aggressive type and interrupt her immediately when I lose track. I think it’s important to acknowledge it if you don’t understand something and simultaneously show that you’re eager to learn. Another thing she made me realize, is that the most important thing in live is to keep exploring. "It should be something in which you'll find things that are new for you, that feeling will make you happy", she said, when I asked her which profession she thinks will suit me. This answer was quite a relief and a good example of a grandmother's advice that will lead me somehow in life, I guess.

The other side of my grandmother is more what one would expect of a true ‘stařenka’. In a trajectory which will take a few more years of experience, she is teaching me how to make the most delicious ‘apple strudel’ and is uncovering the secrets behind her wide variety of Christmas cookies. Furthermore I’ve already learned indispensible techniques like the perfect angle to hold your wrist when you’re stirring home-made blackberry jam. “No you can’t have a break, keep on moving seventy-five minutes straight, otherwise it will be ruined!”.

Apple Strudel (I’ve added some comments, since I saw her doing it ‘live’ a few days ago)

Ingredients (for two small rolls): ½ kilo of flour, 1 egg, 1 big spoon of oil (not olive oil), little bit of salt, warm water, ½ teaspoon of vinegar, apples (2 kilos at least), raisins, butter, cinnamon (powder), breadcrumbs, sugar.

Make a hole in a pile of flour (actually you really need Czech flour!), break the egg, add the oil, salt and vinegar in the hole. Stir and add water carefully till you can squeeze it with your hands, make a solid piece of dough. Wrap it in plastic, to keep it moisturized, put it to rest on a warm place for 30 minutes. In the mean time: cut the apples, melt the butter, roast the breadcrumbs in a little bit of butter.

Spread a tablecloth, sprinkle a little bit of flour on it. Cut half of the dough, wrap one half in plastic again, roll out the other piece as much as possible. The main skill: pull from the centre with your hands till its really thin, almost see-trough, without tearing it apart. Cut the thick parts (with scissors) on the outskirts. Spread melted butter, breadcrumbs, pieces of apple, (a lot of) sugar, cinnamon, raisins and sprinkle with butter in the end. The taste of the apples depend on the season and decides how much extra flavors should be added. Make a roll with help of the tablecloth, cover with melted butter, put in the oven carefully. Bake at 200 degrees till it’s brown (crispy thin crust), again put melted butter on top (don’t be humble), cut into pieces while it’s warm. Repeat steps for second strudel, always make two, at least!

Klara van Duijkeren

Tamara Gogiberidze (1918-2009)

My Name is Tina Gurgenidze I was born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia. Now I live in Berlin, Germany with my husband. Here I would like to talk about my gradmother Tamara with whom I have spent lots of time in my life. When I

remember my grandmother Tamara I always remember the stories she used to tell me, the stories about the war, about her life in the village etc… What I also remember is the game we always played together. We used to make a house out of the blanket and hide inside of it. This was something like our secret. I loved this game and I was always very happy when grandma came to visit us. The blanket house was like a hiding place for us where all our dreams could come true, it was like our imaginary world, we would spend hours there and never get bored. I could not really say what I have actually learned from my grandma Tamara, no recipe or a handcraft, I think I just learned things about life from her that definitely influenced me in my own life. Grandma Tamara was a person full of life and always happy, without worries, just looking at everything easily. From her I learned to always take the difficulties in an easy way and stay calm in any situation. Looking at h

er I understood that in spite of all the difficulties that life brings along we should always try to stay calm, continue living and never loose our hopes.

(On the top picture left- Grandma Tina Kobiashvili right Grandma Tamara Gogiberidze, I was 3 years old when my grandma Tina died. On the bottom my mother Isolda Siradze with her mother Tamara Gogiberidze)

Sumiko Kageyama (born in 1925)

My name is Reiko Kageyama, born and raised in Japan. Here I would like to talk little bit about my grandmother, Sumiko. She is my mother’s mother, and we used to live closed to each other until I moved to a bit far when I was at age 7.

She was very kind and warm person. Though she was always in the shadow of my grandfather who had strong impact on my life, she was always there to support us. 

My memory with Sumiko starts with knitting.

She was married at age 17 and served as a housewife since then, so she is good with practical things, like cooking and sawing. Besides these skills, she taught me knitting.

I could not find any “completed” pieces she did, but I remember I was fascinated by her skills back then. It was like a magic for me as a string becomes one sheet-like and get longer and longer to become something… 

There are many different techniques in knitting and each technique should be used for different outcomes. For example, stocknette stitch is good for making sweater, as each stitch is small and tight together so that it keeps you warm. Crochet stitch and Double crochet stitch are good for making things like a hat for spring/fall as it is not so warm due to the rough stitch, but gives elegant patterns on the surfaces.

I liked crochet stitch better as it was easier for me to use only one needle instead of using two for stocknette stitch, but she tried to teach me hard one as it is more challenging. She also taught me how to be challenging and patient.

Now she is 84 years old. Recently, she had to have surgery due to some stomach problem. The operation went well, but because of her age, it takes really long to get back to the same condition as she was before. She is still in the hospital after a few month, but getting better every day. 

 

Whenever I visit her in hospital, she always thank me for coming visit and worry about me getting back home as I live a bit far.  

Knitting maybe one of the special skills she taught me, but as I see her now in the hospital, she still teaches me many things, such as caring heart. Her attitude to others even when she is in the hospital and feeling pain makes me wonder if I can be like that when I am the one suffering. And it makes me think how kind and warm she is, and that is something I should be following. 

I am proud of myself that I was born as one of the grandchildren of her, and I appreciate this project as it made me think about my grandmother a lot.  

Reiko Kageyama