It’s a picture of my grandfather Volodymyr Chornyi (born 1944), “a dandy in bologne” (waterproof cloth associated in USSR with Bologna in Italy) holding my mom. He’s already a city resident, though he was from a village with an odd name Berzulove or Birzolove near Kirovograd (now Kropyvnytskyi). In 1969 the family moved from Kirovograd region to Dnipropetrovsk region, to a newly established town Ordzhonikidze (now Pokrov). The picture was taken before the May Day demonstration, a ‘parade’ it was named then. My mom is a one year old toddler here. She’s wearing a green coat and holding balloons. Coat was excellent. It was made from fine wool and had red embroidery on the sleeves. She’s also wearing an ugly white hat which was bought at a bazaar. It lost its form completely after the first washing. After that no hat was ever bought to children or grandchildren. My granny quickly learned to knit and after that she knitted for everyone in the family while she was able”.

Comment by Maria Rasputna.

1970, May

This photo is contributed by Nataliia Chorna, Maria's mother.