My father's hard life left its mark on the whole family
My dad Nikola had a difficult life, but he fought for his children and his homeland
My father, Nikola, lost his father Jandra as a 4-year-old child, who was killed by partisans while he was defending the town of Gospić from their attacks.
He had to grow up very quickly and help his mother in the chores like all the other brothers and sisters since there were nine of them.
As a young man, he worked on the construction of a dam in Kosinj. He later had to do two years of military service in the late 50s.
In the 60s, dad met mom and they got married and had seven children. They lived in an apartment in Perušić, dad worked and mom was a housewife and looked after and raised her children.
Dad had the nickname Charlie, it was a really cool nickname for me, but dad didn't really like being called that, his children used to be called Charlie's Angels.
Unfortunately, my parents lost one child as a small baby, and their son Joso, or my brother, died in a traffic accident in 1995.
All this left a mark on my father, he gave in to alcohol and the whole family suffered because of it.
In the 1980s, Dad worked at a sawmill in Perušić, and at that workplace he was greeted by the beginning of the Homeland War.
He joined the defense of his homeland immediately in September 1991, and in 1992 he was slightly wounded. When he was discharged, he returned to his job for a few more years and then he retired, not a military pension, but a civilian one, and he actually had a measly 1,500 kuna pension and received an 80 kuna supplement for injuries, that's too sad, but some Croatian veterans have gone even worse.
When the children grew up, each of them went their own way in life, in the meantime, mom fell ill and died of a vicious and incurable disease, and I believe from grief for her daughter Korina and son Josa, and in the end, dad was left to live alone in the apartment from a very large family.
He died at the age of 67 from a stroke. Unfortunately, he did not die at home surrounded by all his children, but died in a hospital in Rijeka!!
Rest in peace God's father and may the Croatian land be easy for you!!🙏😢🇭🇷
