Maria put down her spoon and looked out the window. Her eyes were far away, remembering better times. "We lived in a small house outside Moscow," she began. "Papa stopped doing big concerts when I was very little. He said he wanted to spend time with me and Mama."
Jonathan listened carefully. This explained why Victor had disappeared from the music world: he had chosen family over fame.
"Papa had a beautiful piano in our living room," Maria continued. "Every day after school, we would sit together and he would teach me. He never got angry when I made mistakes. He would just smile and show me the right way to play."
"What about your mother?" Jonathan asked.
Maria's face became sad. "Mama was very beautiful and kind when I was little. She would sit and listen to Papa and me play music together. But after Papa died, everything changed."
Maria picked up a piece of bread but did not eat it. Her hands were shaking as she remembered painful things. "Papa got sick very suddenly. The doctor said it was his heart. One day he was teaching me a new song, and the next day he could not get out of bed."
Jonathan waited patiently for Maria to continue. He could see that talking about her father's death was very difficult for her.
"Papa called me to his bed the night before he died," Maria said, tears starting to fall. "He told me that music was the most important thing he could give me. He said that no matter what happened, I should never stop playing. He made me promise."
"And you kept that promise," Jonathan said softly.
"Even when we had no food, I would find old pianos in churches or schools and practice," Maria said. "The music kept Papa alive in my heart."
Maria told Jonathan how everything fell apart after Victor died. Her mother, Elena, could not handle the grief. She started drinking alcohol to forget her pain. Soon she was drinking every day and could not take care of Maria or herself.
"We lost our house because Mama could not work," Maria explained. "We moved to smaller and smaller places. Then Mama heard that we could start a new life in America. She sold everything we had left to buy tickets on a ship."