Message:
My granddaughter lived with her boyfriend for two years. One day, after a fight, he did something so stupid I can hardly believe it — he took a stray cat (the one my granddaughter had rescued and cared for for a whole year) and dumped it in the next town just to “hurt her feelings.” She told him to get out of her apartment (the lease is on her name).
He tried to play it down, saying he just wanted to “provoke” her and that she was making a big deal out of nothing. Then he started whining that three days weren’t enough to find another place and move his stuff. She told him: leave now, you can come back for your things in two weeks.
He kept complaining. But she went further! They worked in the same company, different departments, same level. She went straight to management, asked for a promotion — and they gave it to her! Which means now, by company rules, she is above him. If he keeps stalking her, he is in violation and could lose his job. And now she decides — does she crush him completely, or let him at least keep his work?
But here is the real point. She is the first woman in our family who did not “wait and endure.” She ended it instantly, even though they were engaged. In our family, traditions were brutal: if you married, it was forever. Divorce meant losing inheritance — the farms, the bank accounts, everything. Even engagement was under these rules, not as strict but still binding. Of course, these traditions were mostly in favor of men, who could misbehave knowing the women had no way out.
I endured fifty years of my husband’s affairs until he died. But I raised my daughter differently — I taught her to never be afraid and to never accept abuse. She suffered five years of beatings until her husband ended up paralyzed. And now my granddaughter — she is my pride. In her, all the determination and liberation of our family has finally become real. She didn’t just refuse to tolerate him — she threw him out the moment he crossed the line. She created the situation where she controls, and she does not wait, she does not suffer.
And today, at the family council, she told everyone what she is doing. When her cousin’s uncle mumbled that she would lose everything, she stood up and said: first, she earns enough even without all those estates; and second, that all of this is illegal. If the family does not change the rules, she will go and study to become a lawyer and sue every single one who keeps pressing on her.
And you know what? The first thing — she really can do it, she’s always wanted to become a lawyer. And the second thing — her aunt, her cousin, her great-grandmother, me, her mom, and even her second cousin all stood with her! Most likely, next week we will gather again and try to change the laws of our family constitution, because now many more people are voting for these changes.
I bought space in your book because I need this moment to be written down forever. To read it later in print, to place it on my shelf. Women are rising. They are building their own empires. And what once belonged only to men — that time is over. I want our story to be an inspiration too.
My granddaughter lived with her boyfriend for two years. One day, after a fight, he did something so stupid I can hardly believe it — he took a stray cat (the one my granddaughter had rescued and cared for for a whole year) and dumped it in the next town just to “hurt her feelings.” She told him to get out of her apartment (the lease is on her name).
He tried to play it down, saying he just wanted to “provoke” her and that she was making a big deal out of nothing. Then he started whining that three days weren’t enough to find another place and move his stuff. She told him: leave now, you can come back for your things in two weeks.
He kept complaining. But she went further! They worked in the same company, different departments, same level. She went straight to management, asked for a promotion — and they gave it to her! Which means now, by company rules, she is above him. If he keeps stalking her, he is in violation and could lose his job. And now she decides — does she crush him completely, or let him at least keep his work?
But here is the real point. She is the first woman in our family who did not “wait and endure.” She ended it instantly, even though they were engaged. In our family, traditions were brutal: if you married, it was forever. Divorce meant losing inheritance — the farms, the bank accounts, everything. Even engagement was under these rules, not as strict but still binding. Of course, these traditions were mostly in favor of men, who could misbehave knowing the women had no way out.
I endured fifty years of my husband’s affairs until he died. But I raised my daughter differently — I taught her to never be afraid and to never accept abuse. She suffered five years of beatings until her husband ended up paralyzed. And now my granddaughter — she is my pride. In her, all the determination and liberation of our family has finally become real. She didn’t just refuse to tolerate him — she threw him out the moment he crossed the line. She created the situation where she controls, and she does not wait, she does not suffer.
And today, at the family council, she told everyone what she is doing. When her cousin’s uncle mumbled that she would lose everything, she stood up and said: first, she earns enough even without all those estates; and second, that all of this is illegal. If the family does not change the rules, she will go and study to become a lawyer and sue every single one who keeps pressing on her.
And you know what? The first thing — she really can do it, she’s always wanted to become a lawyer. And the second thing — her aunt, her cousin, her great-grandmother, me, her mom, and even her second cousin all stood with her! Most likely, next week we will gather again and try to change the laws of our family constitution, because now many more people are voting for these changes.
I bought space in your book because I need this moment to be written down forever. To read it later in print, to place it on my shelf. Women are rising. They are building their own empires. And what once belonged only to men — that time is over. I want our story to be an inspiration too.