As Mayramkul apa shared in a comment to Turmush, after getting married, she took care of two mothers-in-law at once. Her husband was born in 1953 in the Kemin District, while she was born in the Ala-Buka District of the Jalal-Abad Region. "My parents are originally from Kemin. During the Soviet years, as you know, young people were sent to various regions after finishing their studies, assigned jobs through distribution. My father, a zootechnician by profession, moved to the Ala-Buka District and started working there. I was born there, after which they returned to the Kemin District. They received their education at a vocational school in Frunze, in the food sector. Later, my father worked at a dairy processing plant in Tokmok. In 1974, one day I went to a movie in the Kemin District, where I met my future husband. We dated a little as a couple, and on March 5 of the same year, we got married. We didn't have a grand celebration, just a small event at home, receiving blessings from relatives and close ones. In those years, there were no grand celebrations like there are now. When I gave birth to our first son, my older mother-in-law [“улуу кайын эне” – grandmother of the husband], who lived in the Zhel-Argy area of the Kemin District, took me in. My father-in-law had two wives. In the early days of our marriage, I helped the younger mother-in-law with household chores, then I went to live with the older one," she recounts.
When her son turned 1 year old, she got a job at the Kyrgyz Railway, in the branch located in the Zhel-Argy settlement. "That was the first time I saw a railway in my life; I worked at the company until I retired. Now I am an honorary pensioner of the railway. Together with my husband, we raised four children — two sons and two daughters. Our eldest son passed away 16 years ago... My husband and I have 11 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. The grandchildren have already graduated from educational institutions and are working," says Mayramkul Cholponbaeva.
She recalls that she and her husband had to endure tough times. "But we overcame all difficulties, supporting each other in hard times. Of course, there are quarrels in every family. But this should remain within the family and not become public knowledge or concern relatives. Thanks to our patience, we survived everything. Nowadays, young people strive for easy money, for a ready-made life, for ready-made conditions. But when they face difficulties, they cannot overcome them. And if life is going well for them, sometimes even this can lead to arrogance. One must live with an understanding of the current situation, not soar too high, and not let things get to the point where they have to claw their way out of poverty. Life can be different — sometimes everything works out, sometimes it doesn't. But when you earn through your own labor, when you and your spouse make joint efforts, it is valued more, it is more honorable. I would like to address the youth in this way," she said.
