We found Grandpa Vasile reading from the Bible by a stove where no wood was burning. Mutulica rushed to show me that there was no firewood in the padlocked shed.
I then learned that the old man had worked all his life without a contract, and now, at 72, he has no pension and no other income.
So, we created a pension for him. Because we value Grandpa Vasile’s dignity, that’s what we’ll call this monthly allowance that we want to give him for the rest of his life.
In December 2020, we brought his first pension. With joy and frozen hands, we handed him a pen. He, teary-eyed, searched for the place where he had to sign. I also asked him for his ID, just like the officials do, and then handed him the envelope with his first “pension”.
