Valentina Chernova

Last week I went to visit Valentina Chernova at her home. She was doing much better than she was the last time I had seen her (in the hospital) and I was very thankful for that. Just over half of her 14-day chemotherapy treatment was complete. She was taking six pills a day during that time and should have finished treatment on Saturday. Honestly, she seemed much stronger than most of the people I have met who were in the middle of chemo (admittedly, this number isn’t very large).

As if the cancer and treatment weren’t a solemn enough topic, she pulled out the pictures she had of “her Sasha” at his funeral. He passed away this past May after a long battle with asthma and other health complications. It has been a tough year for Valentina.

We talked about the future. She was very interested to hear Laura and my plans for the next stage in our lives. She was also rather adamant about her own future plans. She wants to return to working at Good Shepherd Center, but not as the director. She wants to help in “any way she can.” She wants to help the kids with homework and just have time to talk to the kids. She wants to be the night watchperson (which seems to be about the last job anyone would aspire to). I could tell that she just wants to serve again, like she has been doing for so long. Most of us who know her have difficulty seeing her any other way.

Dave