Author: Hettie D.

My name is Henrietta (Hettie) Dombrovskaya. I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russian (actually, back then – Leningrad, USSR) in 1963, and immigrated to the United States in 1996. I love Saint Petersburg, the city I was born and raised in, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Similarly (but differently) I love Chicago, and can’t imagine myself moving somewhere else in the observable future. I have three children, Igor, Vlad and Anna, all adults living on their own, and one (so far) granddaughter Nadia. I also believe that my children are the best thing that happened in my life. As for my professional life, I am working in the field of Information Technologies. When I was twenty, I’ve declared that the databases are the coolest thing invented and that I want to do them for the rest of my life. Thirty plus years later, I still believe it’s true, and still, believe that the databases are the best. These two statements together imply that I think a person can have it all, and indeed, I think so! Keep reading my journals to find out how I did it.

Meeting With Friends

During the past week, I had chances to catch up with three friends with whom I hadn’t met in person for several months. And, to a different degree, I can say the same thing about each of these meetings: the changes that started to happen in me and with me during the past year, and especially during the past six months, are more significant than any changes ever happened in my life.

I started to notice it in late spring: for years, there were friends with whom I could always “start from the place we left last time,” as if we didn’t speak for months and years, and it’s not the case anymore. If people follow me on social media, they at least have some ideas about how my life changed, and how my priorities changed. But otherwise, I do not know how to start a conversation.

When we met with my friend Maryann who knows me almost since the time I came to the US, she asked: so, what’s new with you? What happened since we last talked in spring? I took a deep breath and replied: tell me what’s new with you first!

I do not know where to start, how to say that yes, there is work, and there is family, all generations of it, and travels, but that’s not the most important part of my life. It’s especially difficult, because the things I am doing belong to a very narrow professional niche, and you can’t quickly explain “what is Postgres.”🤷🏻‍♀️

Still Blooming

I am leaving on Saturday, and will be gone for two weeks, so I can’t imagine that my balcony flowers will survive, but they are blooming now, and I do not have the heart to discard them…

Glenwood Market

Today was my last market day of this season – I will be gone for the next two weekends. I had no time and no reason to go but went anyway, especially when I saw their Instagram post this morning:

I had breakfast at the Common Cup

Got my flowers at the market:

Made an apple tart:

Took my mom to the Above the Law Crimm Brothers:

As usual, my mom said that she didn’t understand anything, but enjoyed the acting. I told her that the plot is twisted enough so she might not have understood it even if it were in Russian 🙂

New Skill

I finally learned how to make cappuccino!

Night of 1,000 Jack-o’-Lanterns at Botanic Garden

TIt was the first time I attended this event at Chicago Botanic Garden. I thought I should take more advantage of my membership, and also I thought that’s something my mom would enjoy (and she did). There are only fifteen nights when the Jack-o’-Lanterns walk is open; each time from 6:30 to 10:30 PM.

Honestly it was hard to believe that each of the pumkins was actually carved; that they were not some plastic models! But the artists were at work, so you could actually see the artworks in making!

I am not sure whether there were indeed 1000 of pumpkins, but there were a lot, so I collapsed some of them into collages. Enjoy!

From Chicago Front Line

Copying today’s Court decision about blocking National Guard deployment – one more reason to be proud of Chicago!

Continue reading “From Chicago Front Line” →

How Single Women In Chicago Lived in 1900s

One of the recent WBEZ Curious City episodes was about women living independently in Chicago in the early 20th century. I didn’t know the term “women adrift,” and to be honest, I thought that women were not even supposed to live on their own back then, so all of this was incredibly interesting. Sharing here.

Continue reading “How Single Women In Chicago Lived in 1900s” →

The Sun/Moon Concert at Guarneri Hall

I learned about Guarneri Hall, one of Chicago’s “hidden gems”, earlier this year from one of the WBEZ shows, and when I went there for the first time, I was blown away by the uniqueness of this experience. When they announced the program for the new season, I reserved several single tickets, even though I was unsure whether I would be able to attend.

It so happened that a good friend of mine visited Chicago this week (to run a Chicago marathon), and she happened to have that very evening free. I got one more ticket to the concert, and we went together.

I was happy to share this experience with someone else (for the record, so far, there have been no concerts on any of the days when Boris was here).

Yesterday’s program was called “Sun/Moon,” and was dedicated to Hydrogen Day (yes, I also didn’t know such a day existed). The concert opening remarks were delivered by Dr. Andrew Johnston, Vice President of Museum Experience & Collections at the Adler Planetarium. He talked about the origin of the Universe, the role of hydrogen in it, and what the “music of the spheres” really means. The program featured absolutely extraordinary performers, soprano Kristina Bachrach and pianist Winston Choi.

The program notes for those who are interested.

Nothing can compare with this special feeling of presence just a few feet away from where the music is made, hearing the clearest possible sound, and following the artist’s facial expressions :). And after the concert, there was a Q&A with the performers, and a small reception (my friend and I used this time to catch up on life).

From My Monthly Health Check

I am enrolled in as many Apple Health studies as applicable to me, because I like to know things about my health, and because I understand thatconsicten Apple Watch warerers can make a valuable contributions to studies of human health, behavior, and their relationships

My answers “almost never” change, but I always wonder why questions 2 and 3 do not allow to reply “always” 😀

Unexpected Find

Last week, my mom told me, as she often says, that “she needs time when I won’t be in a rush, because she needs to tell me something and to show me something.” And if you think that I am dismissive and not paying attention to something important, I have tried to listen to “something important” many times in the past five years, so I sort of knew what was coming.

Still, I acknowledged the request and suggested that she probably could tell me something on that day, when I was not that rushed, and then we could sit together for another hour late in the week. She replied that “an hour was not enough” and she needs “half a day.” Realistically estimating her endurance, I could not imagine any activity for longer than two hours, and told her that I could come any time she wants on Saturday, so that she could have as much time as she needs (I was indeed flexible on Saturday, and knew it wouldn’t be half a day). She tried to ask “when it was convenient for me,” and I told her any time would work, so she asked me to come at 11 AM. Knowing her meal schedule meant that it wouldn’t be more than an hour and a half, and it was.

First, she said that she “wanted to show me where things are so that I know where to look when she passes away.” I already knew, because she showed it to me many times, but she took out three bags with documents again. There was a bag with Russian documents and another with American documents, so I told her it was all good and that she needed to keep them all. She was about to put everything away, but then she said: Oh, we didn’t go over the third one!

We started with the third one, and she showed me a purse which she had shown me before with some small amounts of dollars, euros, and rubles, which she used to carry with her when she still traveled. But then, she opened other envelopes, and I saw that there was a lot of money! In dollars, euros, and rubles! I said: Mom, why is this money here? We put all your money into the bank when you first came to the US! What I figured out looking at the receipts was that she brought this money with her when she first came (and later she was always telling me that she is afraid to carry money on her, so even when she still traveled, Boris had to bring her pension converted to dollars, back to the US.

My hypothesis is that she didn’t trust me when she came, and decided to stash some money “under the pillow,” just in case. And then she forgot about it, but not until recently, because I remember her showing me “everything” several times.

I took the US money, except for small bills, which I hope she will remember to use for tips and deposited it to the bank. Euros will travel to Helsinki. Rubles won’t go anywhere.

Oh, and as for the important things she wanted to tell me, it was something she told me multiple times previously, and with more details. But that’s what I expected, so I sat politely and listened.