“Oh Lord, with everything I’ve lived through, you could write a novel. Though many wouldn’t even believe it…” says Uncle Gheorghe, sitting on the little bench in front of the shed where he keeps his cattle.
To reach that shed, one must climb a hill and descend into a valley. The entire journey is beautiful, but the place where the shed stands feels like a piece of heaven… One morning, I walked that path with him—the path he takes every day from October to June.
Some episodes from his life were told to me by him and one of his sons. And truly, you can’t help but be impressed.
As a child, he had to learn quickly how to take care of himself. He looked after his sick parents, his disabled grandfather, the household, and still managed to go to school—a school many kilometers away from home, which he walked to daily. And yet, he graduated at the top of his class.
In his youth, while working in the forest, a fir tree fell on him, breaking his pelvis. He was bedridden for nine weeks. A man who had never been used to sitting still, not even for a moment… “But in life, you also come across people with big hearts. A doctor at the hospital took great care of me, and I recovered.”
He served in the Honor Guard at Cotroceni Palace. He was asked to stay in the army, but he refused. He wanted to be close to his parents and his animals. “In life, you have to do what you love. After the army, I could have chosen something else, but I stayed because I loved it.” I saw him at work, and truly, happiness shone in his eyes.
“When the farmer is wealthy, the country will be wealthy too. Because where does your food come from? From the farmer. If he has everything he needs, he won’t have to raise prices, and he’ll be able to do even greater things,” says uncle Gheorghe.
“He had a hard life, but he never stopped working… Always through honest labor. He never sold his land, never did anything illegal. Even now, he works the land, takes care of his animals, and looks after his granddaughter. To me, he’s a hero,” says Ionuț, one of his sons.
Gheorghe, 81 years old
