Ural farmer mother shares life with seven children
The Proskuryakov family has seven children, including two daughters and five sons.
On the last Sunday of November, Mother«s Day is celebrated in Russia. On this day, it is customary to express gratitude and congratulate the dear women who brought new life into this world. And Anna Proskuryakova from the village of Malyshevsky near Asbest will hear these words at least seven times! In her family, there are seven children and the «Maternal Valor» order.
«I’m not the most honored mother yet,» laughs Anna, «I have everything ahead of me, I only have the third degree. And the first is given to those who have ten children.»
Five sons and two daughters — in the Proskuryakov family, you won’t get bored. The eldest is already 26 years old, the youngest is only four years old. Anna works as a medical registrar, her husband Yuri works as a mining foreman at a mine. The family lives in their own house and runs a farm. Love for household chores was instilled in Anna in childhood. Once, her grandfather was engaged in farming. Then her mother took up her father’s work. Now on the farm there are two dairy cows, chickens, and quails.
Anna enrolled in the Farmer School program by the Russian Agricultural Bank this autumn, attending lectures and practical sessions.
The eldest daughter Varvara graduated from the Asbest School of Arts, is a creative person and is developing in this direction. The middle daughter Alexandra plans to enter a medical institute and become a pharmacist. All children from a young age are accustomed to work, help their parents in the household, with animals. And the youngest son, at just four years old, knows how and what to feed the cow, how to peel potatoes.
«With us, as with many families in Russia, if you can organize one child, then you can organize seven,» says Anna, «and also I always remember the film “Once Twenty Years Later” (a Soviet drama), where the main character at the end is asked what else she is waiting for and she answers — ‘I’m waiting for a child.’ Isn’t this the best thing that can be in life.» It is joyful to understand that our lineage will continue, they will develop our farm. And that means farming will not fade away and our land will develop.»
Earlier, in honor of the holiday, we recalled 5 touching stories of mothers from Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk Oblast. Some of our heroines faced a terrible diagnosis in their child and did not give up, others lost the breadwinner, others cast aside all fears for the sake of fulfilling a dream. More details — in our review.
