Heart of the party
On this day we invited our friends to our place.
I remember from my childhood that our house in Ukraine was always full of guests. New Year's Eve, birthdays - on any of the holidays we always had a lot of people. On family holidays all the relatives came (and there were always a lot of them), on other holidays, first university friends of my parents gathered, and later some parents of my classmates joined us. Following the traditions of celebrations in Eastern Europe, my parents always prepared a big table with lots of dishes and of course alcohol. Almost all such celebrations ended with dancing. To this day our family video archive has a lot of videos where dozens of young people, recent graduates (my parents were much younger than I am now), dancing in the tight corridors of Soviet apartments. The tightness of space didn't seem to prevent my parents and their friends from celebrating life.
Such events seemed like something normal to me. It was hard to imagine any family behaving differently for me.
When I moved to France, I dreamed of having many friends in my home, just like my parents. But in the early years of my emigration this was problematic because I could not afford to invite many people to my rented apartment - most of them could barely fit 3 people. And I didn't make any real friends abroad until years later.
It was seven years after I moved away that I finally realized my dream. About two years ago we started living together with Cléa in her small but bright and beautiful apartment in Paris. Unlike my rented apartments from the student years, this one could accommodate up to 8 people.
And recently we have been inviting our friends over more and more often. These parties are not much like the ones I remember from my childhood, but they fulfill their mission. Once a month, Cléa and I are surrounded by friends. One of the main differences is Titi. My parents never wanted to have animals. And Titi came in a bundle with a relationship with Cléa, and later she has become the only cat I have ever loved.
Titi is undoubtedly the focal point of every home party we have. All the guests adore her, and she, while pretending not to notice it, always remains the center of attention.
I think Titi feels the same way now as I did when I was a kid.
Also on this day:
