Like in a fairy tale? — almost… Yes, the nature is like in a fairy tale, but marriage is a serious matter. And in my situation it also implied fellowship with all the members of the family. With the cat and the dog I made friends at once….
We had two weeks to be alone, while the girls were on holiday in Spain, and to settle organisational questions: register with the police, submit an application for registration of the marriage, and wait for a decision and “permission.”
We went to the office, submitted the documents, were told to wait, and on the application the signatures of sponsors were needed. “And who is that?” I asked. In my understanding, sponsors are those who “shell out” money. It turned out these were the signatures of two witnesses. In general, a formality.
Ivan invited his brother and sister-in-law as guests for the weekend. They came, we got acquainted, they signed our application for registration of the marriage, and we took the application to the office again. They said wait — “we will call you.” We wait and enjoy life.
A week later they call from the kommune: “we need your statements that there are no material claims against the ‘exes’.” Oh… We drove in the rain to another town, to the kommune, to write a statement.
Our fate was taking an interesting shape. There was a certain, so to speak, similarity. Both of us had been left by our former spouses. Both of us had two children remaining: I had sons, Vanya had daughters. And both of us had lived in our marriages for 14 years!
And much later I learned from Vanya’s family film archive that when I, in 1991, received a Certificate of Divorce, he, at the very same time, got married wonderfully and solemnly, being a well-off bridegroom at the age of 35, to a young, beautiful girl from sunny Romania.
“That’s how it happens…” Yuri Antonov sang in his song. Now I cry and listen to the song….
there will be a continuation. I promise.