My Dad Wanted to See Me Happy

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My father was my best friend through my whole life. We had a tradition of sharing dinner and wine every Friday or Saturday from the time I was 13. We kept this tradition until he passed away.

I’m a lesbian, and when I was a teen, I fell in love with my classmate. It was a very hard relationship, and at one of our traditional dinners, I told my dad about everything. He answered that I have to fight for love, because love is the most important thing in our life, and he wanted to see me happy. I was so surprised by his reaction!

In Russia, it is considered shameful to be gay. And it is shameful for parents, too.

At that moment, I understood how much I meant to my dad. And I understood that parental love is unconditional. He supported me over the years, and sometimes his love was the only thing that kept me alive.

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Portrait of Anastasiia Larionova Kozina Anastasiia Larionova-Kozinawas born in a small town in Russia during the 1990s, a time of freedom and new hope. She received an education, made a career, found a girl, and fell in love. As the government took rights away, she moved to New York. She hopes to one day be able to write as well in English as she can in Russian. She studies with Elaine Sohn at the Andrew Romay New Immigrant Center.