Part IV: Sasha and Paula
What else I know about Paula? My father always called her "an angel" for her kindness and soft character. My father's mother, and my grandmother, Rachel, passed away young at age of thirty-seven from a heart disease. Sasha who became motherless at seven years old was very close to his sister. Their friendship and love for each other was very touching. Her letters written during the war years on the covers of the old school notebooks were warm and moving. She loved and worried deeply about her brother and my father, Sasha, in the years of separation. Every word was sincere as only a loving sister can express. She was "an angel." Paula was a very special sister for my father. He always cherished the warm memories of his sister. He saved all her war correspondences. He even kept a piece of her cloth as a spiritual object till his death. Upon his request, it was thrown in his grave to unite them after death.
When I think about Paula, my memory always brings up a photo from my family album. I picture a nice summer day. On the porch of the summer house sits a young woman with three beautiful children, two girls and a boy in sailors suites in Art Deco fashion style. The photo, probably, was taken in late twenties or early thirties. Both girls have loosened hair with big bows, and a boy of two or three years old peacefully sits on his mother's lap. This boy is my father, little Sasha, and the two girls were, my aunts, Paula and Amalia. I did not know Paula. She never became an aunt to me. At the present time, all three siblings passed away. I want Paula to be remembered for what a wonderful human being she was.
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