The Life and Loves of Anda

This is my story - My name is Anda. My husband's name is Stanley. We have three children. A boy and two girls who are almost grown. We live in Krakow, Poland. We own a leather tanning factory. This is a seasonal business. July and August is vacation time at the factory. We pay our workers to take a vacation. For the last year or so I have been raising my family and managing the business by myself. It has been very hard for me. I never get any rest. It seems like I am always busy taking care of the children or taking care of the business. It was not always like this.

There use to be a time when my husband ran the business and was very proud of his family and was a very good father. My husband was very proud the day his son was born. We named him Sebastian. One day my husband took some seeds and planted an oak tree in front of our factory. After he planted the seeds he said, "I want my son to be as tall and strong as an oak tree." When the business was lax my husband would sit outside and watch the tree grow. Today the tree is still there and very tall and strong. This is beautiful token of remembrance for my son, who is also tall.

My husband had become less and less interested in the business. He has become obsessed with gambling and playing cards and partying with friends. My husband has lost quite a bit of money playing cards. He also spends a lot of money playing toto-lotto. One day my husband won the lotto and won back the money he had lost. To be honest, I believe my husband has lost interest in our marriage. As for me, all I have are my children and our business.