Help finish the project of grandpa Gene
Grandpa Eugene was my best friend in Russia.
He was not my real grandfather but if felt like he was. A former university teacher and lawyer, he now lived in the countryside, 2 hours away from Moscow.
Grandpa Gene was an original and adventurous man. He was no banal person. At age 35, in 1974, during the Brezhnev era in Soviet Union, he and his wife lived for two years in the United States as part of a university exchange. He had good memories from his time in the US and felt welcome and well treated by the Americans.
Grandpa Gene loved my family and he always wanted to spend time with us or help us with his skills in house works. On the weekend, grandpa would ring our bell at 7:30 or 8:00 AM to come visit us or to help with some works (which he wanted to do, without us asking). I often went to open him the gate outside, still half asleep, tired, and not in a good mood. But grandpa would gift me with his big benevolent smile, greet me “Hello, Andre!” and hug me. I could not avoid smiling and be happy for the hug. One day, as I needed some rest, I told grandpa that he was very welcome but asked him to not wake us before 9:00AM on the weekend. For him, this was a huge effort. He usually woke up at 5:00AM and wondered impatiently at his home till he could come to us. And at 9:01, we would hear the ding dong. :)
Grandpa Gene was a good and determined man. He progressed steadily towards his goals. My home in the countryside is a bit remote and I don’t drive my own car in Russia. Taxis have difficulty in finding it, as the geo locator does not work well here. When needed, grandpa volunteered to take me to the nearby village, where it is much easier to get a cab to Moscow. At the time agreed, he was at my door, ready to take me to the village in his old van.
One time, during a harsh Russian winter, he was driving carefully through the icy and slippery countryside road. Two cars overcame us while the drivers gesticulated and shouted at us. We obviously could not hear but was probably along the lines of “Old man, stay at home!”. And so they rode, fast and angry, to drift 10 seconds later in front of us, and go off the road to the bordering snow fields. Grandpa stopped to make sure nobody got hurt. Thankfully not. And we continued our journey to the village – safe and sound.
Grandpa was a dreamer and a doer. He lived by the rule that everyone should always have a goal in life. Now, at retirement age, his goal was to build his own banya (an outdoor Russian bath) with his hands. He had already built a beautiful wooden house from scratch, when he was younger and stronger.
For the past 5 years, all the small money he got, he spent it buying wood and construction materials. The pension in Russia for a whole life contributor is around 200 EUR / month. Grandpa would live on half of that and spend the rest on materials. When we gave him some cash for Christmas or birthday, you know how he spent it ─ construction materials. And he was progressing very well.
His vision was a bath complex. Besides the sauna room, shower, and resting area, it also included two water reservoirs – one small tank for a quick deep and the other for fishes. Yes, fishes. He dreamed of the fishes’ inner reservoir, which, as you can imagine, with the harsh Russian climate, is not an easy enterprise from the technical standpoint. But as I already said, he was no banal man. And he had the knowledge and drive to do it.
Grandpa had a good health for his age (81). He thought we would live till 100 years. One day, working on the construction during a snowfall in the winter, he fell from the stairs and broke his leg. Somehow, he managed to go inside home and called for help. His daughter drove 3 hours from Moscow, took another hour to put him in the car, which then got stuck in the snow. Neighbors helped unblock the car and they drove to a Moscow hospital for another three hours. Grandpa was around 10 hours with the broken leg till he got treated. He stayed in Moscow the several weeks needed to heal. In the day after he took out the plaster, the good old man escaped Moscow and drove to the countryside. That accident was a small deviation from his project plan ─ there was work to do!
Grandpa Gene lived in the countryside within a small bubble of close people. But he had 1 exposure with this bastard COVID virus and got infected. When he was being hospitalized, grandpa kept a mild optimistic smile and told us, “everything is according to plan, till 100 years.”
During his hospitalization, we were not allowed to speak or visit him. So, we left him papers saying we loved him. We left him pictures of him building the banya, pictures of the small grandchildren and a kids’ drawing of the bath house he as building. Grandpa fought for three weeks in the intensive care unit. He left us on July 6, 2021.
In his funeral, I promised him that I would help finish his project. In that moment, I had this idea of crowdfunding. I regret I did not have this idea earlier and we could have given him more resources, while he was doing it himself. But I realized that grandpa was happy doing it his own way, slowly but steadily.
This fundraiser initiative is my way of honoring a man I loved. I would be deeply grateful if you could contribute to this campaign or help spread the word. I commit to you, friends and prospective donors, to provide you with regular updates on our progress and on how your donations are being employed.
Thank you.
Andre Cruz, 18 July 2021
