Those after war years were marked by poverty and loss. Ljubica Petrovic Popovic, a daughter of a wealthy merchant, in her early thirties, lost all her properties while her husband, pre-war intellectual ended in Goli Otok. She was alone, a despised member of the bourgeoisie, with two small children. She realized that her husband would probably never return. Ljubica didn't know how to do anything, except sewing. So, she started sewing for others. When she couldn't keep her children warm, she started using her fancy furniture for fire. Realizing she was completely alone, she decided to enter university so she can provide for her kids. And not any university, she wanted to study philosophy. When they saw her, blond and fragile, university professors laughed at her face and told her she should better find a new husband than trying to study something that even the most intelligent men cannot do.
Ljubica entered anyway. She refused marriage offers from officers telling her her husband wouldn't come back and it was a pity for such a beautiful woman to stay alone. She attended classes and took care of her kids during the day and sewed and studied during the night. She finished her studies with high grades, and after post studies, she started working at that same University where her male colleagues laughed at her for being a woman. Her husband came back, but the man she married was gone. Anyway, she stayed by his side until the end, when he died in his armchair after writing the last page of his book about Goli Otok.
Even today, I still remember the taste of her soup. The best soup in the world. My grandma Ljubica, dragon woman, who cooked as well as she quoted Dostoyevsky. She listened patiently to my first songs, while she was making hats for us, her grandchildren. Because of her, I write. Because of her, I am strong even when I am weak. This ring is for you, dear grandma. And all those women who stood by you, side by side.
