The Mirrored Doorway

Introduction

Matthew's doorway to change came to him in the form a woman, who held up a mirror for him to see who he really was. She was a very fit, blonde, blue eyed, intelligent woman who was originally Russian. Victoria had seen more of life than Matthew had ever imagined. Victoria had imagined the un-imaginable and achieved it. She is still doing all those things that us mere observers have yet to have the courage to understand or commit to. He engaged. He pandered, he devoted himself, and in the end, Victoria showed Matthew who he really was. He was emotionally crushed. Matthew was heartbroken and the tears would not stop. He had a desire but not the will to commit suicide. In the car he would wail. In the shower he would buckle and cry.

In the aftermath, Matthew would steel his nerves with anti-anxiety medication and long, long walks around the New South Wales city of Newcastle. From the house his parents owned to the city, to the beach and anywhere in between. He needed to be occupied, he needed to be tired. The construction workers would be listening to a sad some song on the radio (Dean Lewis – Be Alright, that's a good one to cry to), and he would want to stop and physically break down on the grass verge and go no further.

Matthew needed to reconcile with best person he had ever meet.

So, what was reflected in Matthews mirrored doorway? What door way was opened for him to look beyond his world view, and importantly how did it take so many years for him to see the person he was?

Is this a love story? Yes. For Matthew absolutely. For Victoria, no. She did not love or care for him, and we can only guess that Matthew was company for a short period of time, and that amounted to 9 months of wonder, snoring, emotional roller coasting, photography, Salsa dancing, camping, trekking, long drives and fitness. Awesome!

New Friends

Victoria is from Dzershinsk, a city in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located along the Oka River, about 400 kilometers east of Moscow. She had studied Linguistics, but had wanted to be a Veterinarian. She was born Russian, grew up in Kazakhstan, and when the collapse of the USSR occurred went back to live with her grandmother.

In Kazakhstan she was almost killed by other kids, because she had blonde hair. She prefers men with dark hair or bald and thinks that anyone that does have blonde hair must be related to her. She was beaten by her father, which left her with a brain injury, which she was able to find a cure for, however she was very close to being epileptic. She initially earned money by picking wild fruit and selling them to the local town population.

There was pressure on her to earn money for the greater family, as her parents did not cope well with the new Russia. She left home after graduating and was successful in Moscow working for a major bank. Her first husband was resentful of her ability to provide more money than him. He had one child from a previous marriage. I guess that is something that was okay with her, as she accepted that of Matthew. This man became abusive. She left, and remarried after two years. Victoria has the most impressive back tattoo. It represents time, and even the tattoo masters admire it. She got the travel bug by visiting Turkey. This is one of the few places Russians could go easily.

They loved each other very much, he was Spanish, and together they took a year off and travelled with an Australian residency card in their pockets. South America and Antarctica. He cheated on her with a stripper. He burnt all her clothes and some of their identity cards. Things that are difficult to replace. She escaped to the Cayman Islands, and loved it.