Galina wiped her sweaty palms on her apron and glanced once more at the festive table. Everything had to be perfect.
Sixty years is no joke! She imagined the guests’ faces when they saw this feast and smiled. Especially Viktor would have to appreciate her efforts.
“Mom, you’ve gone overboard again,” Maria said, entering the kitchen with a handful of flowers. “There’s enough food here to feed half an army!”
“Oh, come on! Can you really skimp on food for a jubilee?” Galina waved her hand. “What if someone doesn’t have enough? I’d die of shame.”
“Do you ever think about yourself?” Maria placed the flowers in a vase. “You’re always feeding everyone, pleasing everyone.”
“What else can I do?” Galina was surprised. “I’m a mother, a wife.”
“And a woman, by the way,” Maria came over and hugged her mother. “Happy anniversary! May all your wishes come true.”
“What wishes at my age,” Galina waved it off, but deep inside something tightened.
The doorbell announced the first guests. The usual whirlwind began — hugs, congratulations, admiring gasps over the table. Galina fluttered between the guests, placing treats, pouring tea. Her face glowed with pleasure, but from time to time she glanced at the clock. Viktor was late.
“Where’s your husband?” whispered neighbor Nina.
“He’s running late,” Galina forced a smile. “Maybe stuck in traffic.”
When Viktor finally appeared, his face didn’t bode well. Frowning, lips pressed tightly, he grunted a general greeting and sat in the farthest corner of the table.
“Vitya, finally!” Galina flew up to him with a plate. “Hungry, probably? I made your favorite cutlets.”
“Leave me alone,” he hissed through his teeth, but Galina pretended not to hear.
The feast went on as usual. Guests made toasts, recalled funny stories from Galina’s life. She laughed, thanked, sneaking glances at her husband. With each glass, his face grew darker.
“Now the floor is given to the husband of our celebrant!” Maria announced, raising her glass.
Viktor slowly stood up. The room fell silent in anticipation. He looked at Galina with a long, heavy gaze.
“What is there to say,” he began in a hoarse voice. “We’ve lived together for forty years. Although…” He suddenly smiled unpleasantly, making something inside Galina snap. “You know, I’m tired. Tired of pretending.”
“Vitya…” Galina whispered.
“Don’t interrupt!” he barked so loudly everyone flinched. “All these years I lived like in a cage. You’re not my family. I felt it my whole life!”
A deafening silence followed. Galina froze with her mouth open. Her hands trembled so much that the fork clattered to the floor.
“Dad!” Maria exclaimed. “What are you saying?!”
“I’m telling the truth,” Viktor downed his shot in one gulp. “How long can I lie? I owe nothing to anyone. Especially today.”
And, staggering, he headed to the exit.
The guests froze in awkward silence. Someone’s glass clinked against a plate. Neighbor Nina covered her mouth with her palm. Galina stood as if struck by lightning, staring after her husband. Forty years of marriage shattered in one minute.
“Galya, don’t pay attention,” Nina was the first to recover. “He’s drunk, doesn’t know what he’s saying.”
“Yes, yes, Galya, men are like that,” her sister Tatyana chimed in. “He’ll sleep it off and apologize tomorrow.”
Maria approached her mother and hugged her shoulders.
“Mom, maybe we should send the guests home?”
Galina slowly lifted her head. There were no tears in her eyes — only endless fatigue and some new expression unusual for her.
“No,” she said firmly. “This is my jubilee. And I want to celebrate it.”
She straightened her shoulders and surveyed the quiet table.
“My friends, let’s not spoil the evening. My husband said what he wanted to say a long time ago. I thank him for… his honesty.”
Her voice trembled slightly, but she pulled herself together.
“You know, every woman’s life must come to a moment when she stops being just a wife and mother. When she remembers she is a person. With her own desires, dreams.”
Galina took a glass and raised it.
“I also want to say something. From today, I stop considering myself part of the old family. The one where I am not valued.”
“Right, Galya!” someone from the guests shouted.
“Mom…” Maria whispered in amazement.
“What about mom?” Galina suddenly smiled. “I’m sixty, and it seems only now I’m starting to live. My gift to myself on this anniversary is freedom. From other people’s expectations, from the eternal guilt, from the need to please everyone.”
She sipped from her glass.
“Can you imagine, I’ve never been to the sea. Always postponed — kids were little, no money, Viktor couldn’t take vacation. But next month I’m going to visit a friend in Sochi! I bought the ticket just yesterday.”
A surprised whisper spread around the room.
“And I signed up for computer courses,” Galina continued with some childish pride. “Everyone’s so smart with their smartphones, and I’m like I just came out of the forest.”
“Mom, are you serious?” Maria looked at her mother like she was seeing her for the first time.
“What’s so strange?” Galina shrugged. “By the way, I have my own pension and savings. I’ve earned quite a bit in my life.”
“Well done, Galya!” Nina said admiringly. “You’re an example for us all!”
The evening unexpectedly took on a new life. Guests eagerly gave Galina advice on places to visit, things to see. Someone mentioned a Nordic walking club, someone else a dance group for retirees.
And Galina listened, thinking this was probably the strangest and most important day of her life. Inside it hurt, very much. But through the pain something new was breaking through — anticipation of freedom.
When the last guests left, Maria helped her mother clear the table.
“Did you really not get upset about dad?” she asked cautiously.
Galina sighed.
“Of course I was upset. Forty years of life — that’s not a joke. But you know… maybe he’s right. Maybe we really weren’t a real family. Just lived out of habit.”
“What about me? Pasha? The grandchildren?” Maria looked at her mother confused.
“You are my real family,” Galina gently stroked her daughter’s cheek. “And you always will be. As for father… well, everyone will go their own way.”
That night Viktor did not come home. And Galina slept soundly for the first time in many years, not listening for footsteps on the stairs.
Morning greeted Galina with silence. No one slammed the fridge door, grumbled, or demanded breakfast. She lay staring at the ceiling where sunbeams played.
“Need to whitewash it,” she thought and immediately stopped herself. “Why? Maybe I’ll move out of here altogether.”
The thought was so daring Galina jumped on the bed. Move? Where? But the longer she thought about it, the more tempting the idea became.
The phone rang sharply, making her jump. The screen showed Viktor’s name.
“Yes,” she answered dryly.
“Galya,” her husband’s voice was hoarse. “I wanted to… apologize. I overdid it yesterday.”
Galina was silent, listening to his breathing.
“Do you hear me?” he didn’t hide impatience. “I’m saying I was too harsh. I said stupid things.”
“And now what?” Galina asked.
“What else? Forget the nonsense. I’ll come tonight, and we’ll talk properly.”
“And if I don’t want to forget? Tired of pretending everything’s fine?”
“Are you serious?” Viktor chuckled. “One drunken phrase and the whole house upside down? We’ve been married forty years, remember!”
“Exactly,” Galina said quietly. “Forty years. And what do we have left, Vitya? Do you still love me?”
He fell silent, and his silence said more than words.
“Well, I haven’t loved you for a long time,” Galina admitted bitterly. “Got used to you, yes. Took care, cooked, washed. But loving is something else.”
“And what now?” Viktor asked gloomily.
“I don’t know,” Galina answered honestly. “But it won’t be like before.”
She hung up and sat motionless for a minute. Then she got up and went to the bathroom. In the mirror, she saw a not-so-young woman. Tired eyes, gray hair. Galina stared at her face as if seeing it for the first time.
“Time to change my hairstyle,” she thought and smiled at her reflection.
After breakfast, Maria called.
“Mom, how are you? Has dad come by?”
“He called,” Galina answered shortly. “Apologized.”
“And what did you decide?”
“What is there to decide?” Galina sighed. “It’s too late to fix anything. And I don’t want to anymore.”
“But…” Maria began.
“Mash, how old are you?” Galina interrupted. “Thirty-five. You’re grown, have your own family. And am I supposed to live with a person who doesn’t need me until the end of my days?”
“Are you really thinking about divorce?” Daughter’s voice was pure surprise.
“Why not?” Galina herself was surprised by her calmness. “When he said that yesterday, I woke up. How many years have I lived like a robot — home, work, store, dinner… And all for whom? For a person who thinks I’m not his family?”
There was silence on the line.
“You know, Mom,” Maria finally said, “I think I’m proud of you for the first time in my life.”
“Proud?” Galina was surprised. “A strange word. What to be proud of?”
“That you finally think about yourself, not about dad, me, or anyone else,” her daughter’s voice was gentle. “Listen, you said something about computer courses? I’ll sign you up for next week, okay?”
“Sign me up,” Galina smiled. “And, Mash… thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not judging an old fool.”
“What fool?” Maria laughed. “You’re the smartest woman I know. You just tried too long to please everyone.”
After talking to her daughter, Galina felt a surge of strength. She pulled out an old suitcase and began sorting things. Some went into a pile to throw away, some to charity. By lunchtime, half her wardrobe was gone.
“A new life must start with a clean slate,” she thought, looking at the empty shelves.
In the evening, there was a knock at the door. Viktor stood on the threshold — unshaven, rumpled, with a bouquet of carnations in his hand.
“May I?” he asked, not looking her in the eyes.
Galina silently stepped aside and let him in.
Viktor stopped in the hallway and awkwardly handed over the bouquet.
“This is for you.”
Galina took the carnations and went to the kitchen. Viktor trailed behind like a naughty schoolboy.
“Tea?” she asked, putting the flowers in a vase.
“Yes,” he sat at the table and sighed heavily. “Gal, what nonsense have you come up with? Divorce? We’re already sixty.”
“So what?” she put on the kettle. “Is age a reason to endure?”
“It’s not about enduring!” Viktor slammed his palm on the table. “Where will you go? How will you live?”
“And what’s it to you?” Galina looked him straight in the eyes. “You said it yourself — I’m not your family.”
“Well, I said it with drunk eyes!” he spread his arms. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
“What did you mean, Vitya?”
He fell silent and stared at the table. Galina got the cups.
“You know, all these years I felt like you…” he hesitated, choosing words. “Like you’re not living with me, but trying for someone else. For the kids, the guests, the neighbors. And I’m just furniture in the house.”
“And what about you?” she asked quietly. “When was the last time you asked what I want? What I dream of?”
“What’s there to dream about at our age?”
“There!” she almost dropped the cup. “That’s your ‘at our age.’ Like we’re already in the grave!”
They fell silent. Outside, dusk was falling.
“Gal,” Viktor finally said. “Let’s not… Maybe we should see a doctor? They say women your age sometimes…”
“Again?” she shook her head. “Again you think I’m sick. All my life it’s been: ‘Galya, have you lost your mind?’ ‘Galya, you need a doctor.’ Maybe I’m finally healthy?”
Viktor looked at his wife confused. He had never seen her like this.
“Vitya,” Galina sat opposite him. “I lived with you for forty years. Gave birth to two children. Buried parents — yours and mine. Worked, cooked, washed, cleaned. I was a good wife. But now I want to be just… Galina.”
“And what, you’re leaving me?” he looked at her incredulously.
“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Maybe I’ll stay. But on different terms.”
“What terms?”
“I won’t be your servant anymore. If you want to live with me, we’ll live as equals. I’ll go to the sea. I’ll take courses. I’ll meet friends. And you won’t stop me.”
Viktor wanted to object but stopped himself. In Galina’s eyes, he saw such determination that all arguments vanished.
“I don’t know, Gal, I don’t know if I can do that.”
“And I don’t know if I can do it differently,” she smiled. “But I want to try to live. Not survive — live.”
He was silent for a long time, then nodded.
“Okay. Let’s try.”
A month later, Galina stood on the seashore watching the sunset. Viktor was silent beside her. He himself had suggested coming with her — “at least I’ll see this sea of yours.” And now they were both watching the sun sink into the water.
“Beautiful,” he said.
“Yes,” she smiled. “Too bad we didn’t come sooner.”
“Not too late yet,” he took her hand uncertainly. “We still have a lot of time.”
Galina said nothing but didn’t pull her hand away. She didn’t know what would happen next. Whether their new life would work out or they would part ways. But she knew one thing for sure: the old Galina, who lived her whole life for others, was gone. And that was her greatest victory.