Page 39 - A Life - my Live - my path

The journey - coal miner’s community

Anecdote: my father visiting my mother
My father liked to go to the village square in the early
evening to meet his friends. When he was allowed to visit
my mother, the whole family and sometimes a few friends
were gathered around the fireplace. Except for a furtive
glance or, as he liked to say, throwing a twig on her apron,
everything was quiet. So there was boredom. After a few
visits, he stayed less and less, preferring to join his friends
in the village square. My mother's brother noticed the
slight lack of interest and decided to go and meet him in
the village square, but before leaving, he took a rifle and
hid it under his coat. When he got to the square, he saw my
father and asked him: "What are you doing here"?
Without waiting for an answer, he opened his coat, showed

him the rifle and said, "I think it's time to go home."
My father often told me that he complied without saying a
word and quietly went home.

My grandfather and uncle converted a room above the
cowshed into a fairly large space with a kitchen and
bedroom. When the work was finished, the first floor of the
house comprised the main entrance, which opened onto the
kitchen and a bedroom, and a new entrance at the back,
which also opened onto a small kitchen and a bedroom. The
bedroom in the second space was slightly larger than the
first.

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