Born special

Perhaps, some don’t find anything unusual in such people, but I think differently. I got this idea from my own experience and, like most ideas about the world, I formed it in my childhood. My mother’s brother – uncle Mykola was a left-hander. He played a special role in my childhood. One day, still don’t know why, he jokingly called me Van Gogh, when I was too little not only to draw anything, but even to simply walk. Maybe, because of him I got interested in art. At some point I got very interested in Van Gogh, and when I learned more about him, he became my favorite artist and painting became my life-long passion.

All the most interesting stories about animals and nature I’ve heard were told by my uncle. He read me stories by Ernest Evan Thompson Seton and together we watched TV programs about the adventures of Jacques-Yves Cousteau... There are many other interests and hobbies that I’ve got thanks to my uncle Mykola. This was a person in my life, who shaped my world and love for nature in many ways.

He carried his love for animals throughout his life. I remember when swallows made a nest in the hall of our old summerhouse and every year they would come back to that place. But one summer the roof started leaking during a heavy rain and the water flow destroyed the nest... Uncle Mykola rescued the little birds and restored their nest.

...That’s the reason why I can’t name a single left-hander an ordinary man – the first left-hander in my life was very special!