tw: neglect; obsessive behaviour; martial breakdown
[name_f]Yekaterina[/name_f] " [name_f]Katia[/name_f] " [name_f]Oksana[/name_f] Gzovskaya (50) is Livvy’s maternal grandmother, who’s recently become a consistent source of support in her life, after reconnecting with her daughter, [name_u]Tavi[/name_u]. Since even before the birth of the first of five children - two boys, three girls - [name_f]Katia[/name_f] struggled with the fixations growing in the heart of her ex-husband, [name_m]Leonid[/name_m]. His bitterness was something that emerged slowly over time, however it became suffocating for the family to deal with, as Leonid’s belief in vengeance led to unbearable negativity projected onto those around him, especially [name_f]Katia[/name_f].
She did her best to shield her children from this, however they naturally came to recognise what their father was like, and ultimately even Katia’s patient optimism wasn’t able to withstand Leonid’s outlook on the world, guilty as she felt for walking away and cutting off contact. This desire for distance is what she thinks drove [name_u]Tavi[/name_u] to strike out on her own, to the point of which she went travelling for several years - phoning and emailing occasionally when she had a moment - but ultimately becoming a distant figure to the rest of her siblings and mother, which worried [name_f]Katia[/name_f] greatly.
At first when [name_u]Tavi[/name_u] and [name_u]Luka[/name_u] became a couple, [name_f]Katia[/name_f] assumed this was a good thing: it got her eldest daughter preoccupied away from Leonid’s moodiness, and contributed so much joy to Tavi’s life. However, unbeknownst to both [name_f]Katia[/name_f] and [name_u]Tavi[/name_u] herself, [name_u]Luka[/name_u] wasn’t a particularly reliable partner: his love was very intense but short-lived, and when the rush left him, things fizzled out quickly, in spite of [name_u]Tavi[/name_u] trying her best to keep things together. Currently, Katia’s aware the cycle has potentially restarted with his current girlfriend [the mother of Livvy’s half-sister], and she’s trying to steer [name_u]Tavi[/name_u] away from getting caught up in this again.
Currently living with her youngest, [name_f]Avra[/name_f], [name_f]Katia[/name_f] has taken primary responsibility of looking after [name_f]Livvy[/name_f] now that she and her daughter are back in contact. It’s been a big adjustment for everyone, as they’d all but assumed [name_u]Tavi[/name_u] was content being separated from them, being the only sibling who didn’t go on holiday with the group [as she was trying to handle her job and parenting, to little avail]. [name_f]Katia[/name_f] has complicated feelings lingering still: she’s delighted to now be consistently involved in Livvy’s life, but also feels a great deal of guilt and upset that Tavi’s determination led to her neglectful behaviour. Still, [name_f]Katia[/name_f] won’t give up on her daughter and has finally convinced her to go to counselling, a huge source of relief.
It isn’t going to undo everything but with the positive progress her other 4 kids are making, it feels like a start of sorts…