On the second day of Christmas this bad year gave to me... more time with family.
I have always wanted to take up this type of challenge - a torn photo supplemented with a drawing. Yes. We exist. Me, Ursa and Riuszka are real people, if anyone had any doubts. Of course, I didn't draw too much in a realistic style (though more realistic than I usually do) - and I used our internet designs, i.e. me-cat, my dragon husband and our little bear cub Ursa.
Why was a bear made from a cat and a dragon? It's a longer story - we had a conversation during pregnancy entitled "Hey, what will be made from the combination of a cat and a dragon" and we came to the conclusion that a creature sleeping in caves on treasures, lazy, independent, strong and at the same time charming and furry. The bear suited us best, and since our daughter's name was supposed to mean "bear" anyway - it matched perfectly. And so Ursa became a bear cub.
I considered coloring this, but I honestly liked the lineart itself, so I only colored (intentionally sloppy) just the background bits.
And if you look closely, you can see that my husband and I both wear glasses. But as I have written many times before - I don't like drawing glasses, not because I'm ashamed of wearing glasses or something, or because I can't draw them. I just don't like doing this. That's why we don't have glasses here. (And that's why poor Henry on SATIM is so visually impaired X"D)
And, yes, I drew it entirely on the computer. Zero sketches on paper. With a mouse 'cause I don't have a tablet. It was hard a little.
Btw. It's really long time when I was drawing Riuszka last time X"D
I love my family. Overall I am a very family creature and family has always been a high priority for me, but in my parents home I used to feel like a black sheep sometimes (especially when visiting my dad's parents - I know they love me, but every time when they were surprised that I read books or that I was drawing something, when I heard their "why are you doing this? You have a project to school?", it hurt a bit... My dad's family is a village in the style of, you know, peasants. They are like uneducated or rude sometimes. Nevertheless, both in the family from the father's and mother's side, there has always been a strong relationship between members. We all stuck together. We argued, of course, doing spite and sticking pins are common, but when you need help or something is going wrong, you can rely on your family. My family is scattered all over the country, so we don't visit each other that often - but we maintain regular contacts, we call with wishes for different occasions or without an opportunity to talk.
When I met my future husband, and then gradually his family, I was a bit surprised because there were completely different habits there. The family meets and maintains contact only on important occasions, and so they live in small groups and only maintain contact with them. And it's not about the phisical distance between the family - some people just don't talk to each other (e.g. Riuszka's mum and her brother). There are also completely different customs that are hard to understand for me. It's amazing how families can differ from each other.
Why am I talking about this and giving you such details? Well, 'cause as an idealist I have long ago stated that when I start my own family, I will fix mistakes and things that I didn't like about my parents family. But... starting a family is not a one-man task. And nothing will be exactly as I want it to be, 'cause I'm not alone. It's second person here.
So when me and Riuszka were starting our family, it was clear that it would not be like mine or Riuszka's, not like in my imagine or his, but something in between. And frankly speaking, we had started to set rules before we got married - we wanted there was no doubt about any matters. We talked a lot, we talked about what we expect from each other, what we expect from marriage. For example, I taught my husband that regular visits to my relatives are the norm for me and it is better for him to get used to it - I, in turn, had to accept large family events performed by my husband's family, which are really rare on my side (and only on really important occasions, e.g. 50th anniversary of my grandparents' marriage, 40th birthday of someone... Riuszka's family celebrates every name day in every year. I didn't have this in my family, and even if, only in the company of the most loved ones!). We also introduced our own customs, which were not in his family or mine. Our new... traditions. And habits.
Of course, over the past year, due to the prevailing epidemic, family meetings have been limited and we have been left alone. There was a period when Riuszka worked remotely and I had him at home all the time. Many marriages, I have heard, have not survived such a test - but it has turned out to be something wonderful for us! Finally, we had more time for ourselves, not wasted for commuting to and from work, I was not alone all day looking after Ursa. Riuszka didn't come back tired after work, so we went back to watching movies, serials or playing board games. And we talked a lot, really a lot. Honestly, we have argued a lot less over the past year than in the past years of marriage and engagement. It's amazing how much gives you the opportunity to talk openly, explain your expectations to each other, what upsets you about the other person and what is positive. We walked this path together and it was one of the better things this year.
So: the time of social isolation and sitting at home was a really good time for us. Now Riuszka goes to work normally (sometimes remotely), and Ursa has a kindergarten, but when it comes to family relations it is really much better - this year has brought us a lot of good.
Riuszka, Nayia and Ursa's design (c) Nayia Lovecat
