Piter Molnar, Martynov, Rautian-Khaiturin and Maya-Zoya

I would like to tell a little story about Peter. I’ll write in my poor English, sorry! It happened when I was a child, many-many years ago, I don’t remember when actually. Also I am not sure this story took place in reality! But I write not about reality. I just write about what I remember. I remember that Peter was in Garm for a long time, and when he had to go home. It was a summer (or early autumn) sunny day. Some people came to us to drink the last cap of tea with Peter and to say goodbye to him. The driver and the car waited for him on the road nearby our house.

I explain you all this exposition, but I do not remember it. I remember only one moment: I went out of doors and saw a strange picture - Peter sitting on the car (он сидел на капоте газика - 469-ки - обхватив колени и поставив ноги в больших походных ботинках прямо на капот). It was an ordinary car we used in Garm – GAZ-469, we called it “gazik”. I was shocked. I was just a little girl, but I already knew rules of sitting: people never sit on cars. They sit on chairs, on benches, sometimes on the grass, but never on cars. Well, people may lean against a car, may sit on an edge of car hood, if it’s a car with the usual low bonnet like “Volga” or “Zhiguly”. But “gazik” is a car with very high hood. And Peter sat on the high hood. He also put his feet on the car. It was the second strange thing. I knew very well that people never put their feet on the seat! People should not put their feet on chairs, on benches, or on other seats. Peter broke two rules at once: he sat ON the car and put his feet ON it.

But the third thing was much more strange: Peter cried. I saw big tears on his cheeks and beard. I understood right away why he cried – because he liked Garm, he liked our life, he liked us, and he didn’t want to go home to America. But I was shocked. I knew an important rule of life: people never cry. They have no right to cry, they may not cry! Well, little children may cry. Sometimes women may cry. Ok, may be men also cry sometimes if nobody can see them. But we could see Peter. We saw him, but he didn’t stop. So Peter broke this rule too. He broke the rule of sitting, the rule of putting feet on a seat, and the rule of crying.

… It’s a long explanation, but it was very short moment. At that moment I began to guess that Peter is right, but the rules are wrong. Many-many years ago I was not able to understand it as well as I do it now, but I felt and remembered it. If Peter cried, so there were no rules at all! Therefore people may be free, they may sit on cars, and even men have right to cry. People have rights to be open and to express their emotions…

So for me the “perestroika” began much more earlier then Gorbachev came :))

Thank you, Peter!