The Crimson Color of Fireweed

6 hrs. 41 min.

Miscellaneous

Language Russian

Author Elena Armand

Narrator Anastasia Dadyko

Description

The story of the last foster child—a four-year-old “dropped-off” boy—who ended up on the grounds of the charity “Lyubutka,” created in the 1990s by Elena Armand. It is her story of fighting to arrange guardianship over a boy—an orphan with living parents; a story of overcoming problems that seemed utterly unsolvable, crushingly heavy—standing in the path of good.

Elena Davidovna Armand (1935–2015) was trained as a geologist; a dissident of the old school; a Waldorf teacher; the author of several books.

A heartbreaking book! A fantastic woman, Elena Armand! Kind, strong, and generous. By incredible efforts, she found a boy who had been abandoned twice by his mother—exhausted and beaten so severely that his clothes could not be separated from his body because the blood had already dried and caked. With equally incredible efforts, at the age of 70 she took him under guardianship, raised him on a tiny pension and irregular donations. Often she lived with him without electricity and running water… Yet she never lost her conviction that every person has the right to a dignified life; she never questioned what his heredity was or what he would grow up to be. The result turned out worse than the plan. Grisha steals, lies, almost doesn’t study, doesn’t sleep at home… But Elena Armand loves him endlessly and forgives him, and—most importantly—keeps seeing what others don’t, and keeps believing what others don’t: Grisha is better, deeper, and smarter than his actions. “Grisha is a special boy. He does not recognize the laws of God, Nature, or people. In his life, distance and time don’t participate—there is no rhythm, no obligation. There are no causes and no effects.” Such a grand tragedy…

The book is written with astonishing honesty and courage. Books like these cleanse the soul. I recommend it to sensitive, caring people.