Before I continue my story I wanted to tell you that my mother hates the term, “Russian mail order bride,” too.
Really, how is she any different from people who meet their true loves through a site like Lavalife, except my mother wanted to meet someone who lived in a foreign country — a place where she and I could have a better life?
So anyway, once my mother became a “Russian mail order bride” I had to begin preparations for my new life. This began with studying a new language. Since my mother’s husband, Alain, speaks French, I had to learn that as well as English. (In Canada people speak both languages.)
If you are a Russian mail order bride or a family member of one, it is very important for you to begin your language study before you move to your new country. At first, I did not think it was that important but now I know how valuable was to be able to arrive in Canada and have basic conversations with people.
Of course, because my mother was a “Russian mail order bride” and had to move to Canada to be with her true love, that meant that I had to say goodbye to my friends in Belarus. But because we live in the 21st, there are many ways for us to communicate long distance, so we haven’t lost contact.
It was even more difficult to say goodbye to my grandparents. In Belarus I was used to seeing them every day. But we stay in touch by Internet and phone. And since my mother became a “Russian mail order bride” I have noticed that sometimes when you are separated from the people you love, you start to appreciate them in a different way.
But the challenges we have experienced since Mum became a “Russian mail order bride” have been worth it. Every day I see how she is so happy to have met the man of her life. They are …I do not know how to describe it!
Simply, they are very happy. Everyone around them shines in the light of their love. In Belarus there is a song that says, “It is terrible to us neither a thunder, storm nor a blizzard, when we are with each other.” That is what their love is like.
