For decades political system and historical events affected not only public officials, but influenced and made changes in the fate of the ordinary citizens. And to say that a man is a master of his own fate, planning his life in advance is so unstable and relative that sometimes it seems ridiculous, because you never know what is in store for us tomorrow. For a short period life can change so drastically that one can barely have time to adjust to the new realities.
Social and political changes in life affected the fate of a mother of a large family and simply the Ossetian woman.
Rimma Kulumbegova was born in one of the finest places of Znaur district of South Ossetia. After finishing school she entered the Polytechnic Faculty of Tbilisi State University branch in Tskhinval, the evening department. Along with her studies at the university Rimma was working as a technologist at the plant "Elektrovibromashina." After graduating from the University in 1988 with the distinction degree, she became a senior technologist at the plant.
At that time the situation in the Republic was extremely difficult - after the war there were devastation and hunger all around. However, the young family was trying to settle down in life.
In the 1990s, the criminal situation in Russia was all in a day's work, and in South Ossetia the "dashing" nineties were aggravated by the post-war devastation.
Soon was born their first child. But the year of 1994 became fatal for the young family - in the middle of the night an unknown gunman burst into their apartment and opened a fire.
According to Rimma, that day was one of those ones, when life goes through before the eyes and you understand that here it is the end.
"It was on the night of September 21, the eve of the Nativity of the Virgin. I was in the kitchen, when I heard a knock at the door and the cry of my mother-in-law. After the burst of sub-machine gun I hurried into the hall. The scene I had seen made my knees to become weak. When I came to my senses, I rushed to call for help "- sadly aid Rimma.
That night, burst of submachine-gun fire, opened on the apartment, injured the head of the family, killed Rimma`s mother-in-law, who was rocking a six-month grandson. The boy miraculously survived.
Soslan-Rimma`s husband, - who was between life and death, was transported to Moscow. For months she was nursing her husband. After numerous operations, he returned home. Rimma, sparing no efforts and time devoted herself entirely to her son and her sick husband, so she had no more chance to continue working.
In the difficult years for the Republic, when the salary was not enough for a month but even for a week, her husband never stopped working, despite the disability, provided by the intruder.
After some time, the second child - a son -was born in the family and after a couple of years - the third. Now, Rimma has three sons.
"The children - it's the best in my life, when I am discouraged, they encourage me. I cannot imagine my life without my children. Many people criticized me, saying that with a sick husband it`s impossible to raise three children, but I decided to risk "- enthusiastically says Rimma.
Time passed, life in the Republic changed for the better, although the night attacks persisted for several years.
By this time the young family completed the construction of a new house in Tskhinval and moved there. The house was nice, cozy, with a fireplace, with a small staircase to the second floor, where was a fabulous balcony overlooking the courtyard. But this remarkable family lived for a short time in the new home.
In South Ossetia, the first year was already tense, and Rimma`s husband, being a patriot to the core, joined the people's volunteer corps and served in the 5th Battalion.
It was the night of August 2008. Soslan was at his post in the village of Pris on the night of August 8 and Rimma with her children were at home. Since the beginning of bombing, they descended into the cellar. A couple of hours later, the house was fired by the missile launch pad "Grad". Half of the second floor was demolished; the house was enveloped in flames. Rimma and her sons remained in the cellar. It was hard to breathe because of smoke and smell of burning; the eldest son managed to get the phone and ask for help.
"This was the second time that my whole life flashed before my eyes. The younger son was crying loudly, I hugged him, but he started to cry even louder, the second son was trembling, and without responding to what was happening, he was looking at me with huge eyes full of horror. Later the doctors explained that it had been a shock, "- tearfully says Rimma.
When the friends of her husband came into the burning house, there was not a breath of air in the cellar. Rimma was looking aloof, holding her son, and did not want to let him go.
"I vaguely remember how we were rescued, I remember one thought swirling in my head:" Do not let them to take the children "- not realizing who were those people and what they wanted," - she said.
The guys, who saved Rimma and her children, were co-workers of her husband who came at his request. Soslan himself did not desert his post. Only in the morning, he was able to meet his family.
Early in the morning of August 9, Rimma sent her children to her relatives in Vladikavkaz, and she, herself, stayed in Tskhinval.
The war is over. The town is almost restored, the most damaged houses are rebuilt, and the house of Rimma and Soslan is still in ruins, as it was in ruins after August 2008.
This couple has undergone severe trials, but in sorrow and joy, in sickness and in health they are together - shoulder to shoulder, having gone through the hard trials of life.
This fragile woman - Rimma Kulumbegova, - displayed enormous firmness, steel character and spirit, nursing her sick husband, raising her three children. She never complained about her life. And no one but she does know what the worth of it was. And God forbid anyone else to go through such trial.
