In the scenic village of Sokolnice (Falconer-female), nestled amidst the rolling hills and verdant meadows of Czechoslovakia, lived a young couple whose love story was as enchanting as the folktales told to the children. Petr, a construction engineer with a penchant for spirituality and ancient myths including those available only in English, found his heart captured by the melodies of nature and the allure of stories about animals, people and gods. And at his side was Marie, a brilliant gardener with an unwavering passion for animals, especially birds, and a curiosity about stories and spirituality that was only slightly behind her husband's.
Their love was forged in the fires of shared interests and kindred spirits, blossoming from childhood companionship into a lifelong partnership. Despite the constraints of their era, where the iron grip of communism stifled dreams of travel and access to Western literature was very limited, Petr and Marie found solace and joy in each other's company.
Petr would often jest, with a twinkle in his eye, as he introduced Marie to others, "Here stands the sweetest songbird, whom I attracted to my nest, and she stayed to make it a real home and build a family with me."
And Marie, in turn, would playfully retort, "He is as tolerant as the biblical , but I would rather like to have a baby with him than with the Holy Spirit."
Their banter was a testament to the warmth and affection that infused their relationship, a love that weathered the storms of adversity and flourished in the fertile soil of mutual respect and admiration.
But now, Marie found herself temporarily displaced from the familiar embrace of Sokolnice, her swollen belly holding the new life growing within her. In the bustling city of Brno, she awaited the arrival of their daughter, a child conceived in love and nurtured in hope.
As she lay in the hospital bed, surrounded by the sterile scent of antiseptic and the hum of medical machinery, Marie's thoughts drifted to the significance of the name they had chosen for their unborn child. Radka, a name imbued with a sense of destiny, for it was on the joyful day of September 14th, 1980, that their daughter would enter the world.
And so, as Marie awaited the dawn of a new chapter in their lives, she found solace in the knowledge that their daughter's name would be a reminder to their joys, values and aspirations, a naming not out of obligation or tradition, but independently of both while wishing her daughter to be happy.
Her husband, Petr, was by her side, offering support like a rock, as his name suggests. He knew that Marie's name primarily meant "Loved by God," and he saw her life reflecting this. He was also thinking about the name of their daughter Radka which means Joyful or "Be happy" - and yes he was happy, although one thought was bothering him. Right after his morning meditation he had a not nice vision of a nightingale who died without any apparent reason in a nest of some small bird of prey watching the nightingale and he couldn't shake the feeling that it was a bad omen.