God's Miracles in Lives of Regular People

About me:

I was born in 1952 in the Ukraine, one of fifteen republics of former Soviet Union. My father was a high ranking military officer in the Soviet army, and my mother was a housewife. From five years of age, I remember myself in tight schedule of different activities in music or sport schools and the studio of young actors with acting, dancing and reciting long poems. In 1959 I became a student of one of the best schools in our region, where the talented and knowledgeable teachers showed us the way to a wonderful world of fascinating knowledge. From ten years of age, my teachers motivated me to write. They read my compositions in front of the classmates. Most of all, I got pleasure from writing my personal journals. The daily events were recorded in the form of poems and stories. On Saturdays, my parents used to arrange the family gatherings, where I read my first pieces of writing to them and their friends. The language teachers encouraged me to undergo the University studies in journalism and creative writing. However, I was interested in studying the foreign languages. In 1977 I graduated with Diploma and Degree, as a specialist in the German and English languages and literature. In 1988 our family arrived to the United States, saving the life of our daughter Tatiana. Seven surgeries with numerous complications and a record of clinical death proved the words of my mother-in-law: “When people cannot help, ask the Father Almighty to rescue, and He will work in His miraculous way.” In 2008 I began writing the trilogy “God’s Miracles in Lives of Regular People”, a true historical and inspirational love story about my mother-in-law, a talented woman with thorny destiny, whose survival was a true God’s miracle. Angelic Tarasio Florida, USA.

In Book I: main character, Maria Kotyk, was born in western Ukraine. In 1940, she graduated from medical school in France and after engagement to a noble Frenchman, arrived home. Dramatic political changes in her native land and tragedy of Nazi occupation pushed Maria in a whirlpool of vicious events. With Jewish people she was transported to concentration camp, "as a raw material" for Nazi experiments. Maria avoided execution, but she went through cruel torments and life-threatening ordeals. She prayed and God saved her.

In Book II: a new visit to Ukraine in 1946 started for a pregnant Maria and her husband with tortures in NKVD (pre-KGB). Innocent couple was sentenced for 12 years of imprisonment in Siberia where their first son was born and kept for 10 years. They released the family from the camps, but did not issue them French passports and forbade their return to France. Her husband was murdered and she and her sons were nearly killed. Maria prayed and God created miracles.

In Book III: Maria struggled to live, being homeless with kids. In 1962, Maria went to a monastery in Moscow where nuns suggested her to meet Leonid Brezhnev, a new leader of the country. He assisted Maria with work authorization and housing. Maria prayed and God helped.

Mother Maria described all the events in her diary that I was honored to read. She wanted me, her daughter-in-law, to write a book about God's miracles that happened in lives of regular people.

Angelic Tarasio

Florida, USA

2008