Natalia-Jokic, an ordinary girl from the Serbian town of songbor, once again appeared on the front page of the Serbian newspaper Novosti-with her husband, NBA championship in 2023, FMVP, two MVP, the strongest basketball player on the planet, Nikolai jokiki, daughter Ognina, and the 2023 NBA championship trophy.
The last time Natalia appeared on the front page was 28 years ago, when Natalia was still a baby younger than her daughter in her arms and was protected by her mother. In the vague old photos, it can be seen vaguely that the eyes of the hurried mother reflect uneasiness and fear, walking through the dusk.
Natalia in her mother’s arms 28 years ago
The time at this time was August 6, 1995. The story behind this photo also begins with the War of disintegration of Yugoslavia, which tore the wound Southland District years ago. Driven by this young mother with two children-one of whom was the young Natalia jokedge-on the road in a hurry was the second in the War of disintegration of the former South: The final song of the war in Croatia: storm action (Operacija Oluja).
At the end of 1994, after Croatia and Bosniac got various kinds of support from the United States, Britain, Europe and other countries, the situation of the war gradually turned to the advantage of Croatia completely. After many failed negotiations with Serbia, Croatia immediately decided to launch a large-scale “storm operation” to pursue victory and completely end the war.
Since August 4, the Croatian army launched a large-scale offensive in many directions with the assistance of special forces police to recapture areas such as Krajina and siravonia, which were once controlled by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and were dominated by the Serbian population, and cruelly expelled the Serbian civilians in these areas, which eventually led to more than 250000 Serbian people being forced to flee from Croatia and leave their homes within a few days.
Many years ago, these photos on the front page of Novosti newspaper truly recorded these people who were crushed by the flash floods of the times: After several turns, the Serbian refugees in Krajina took the northeast of heshovina, finally gathered in a small village in the region of BiH, Sremska raça, with a surge of people and fashionable bycycle, in front of the endless mountain road at a glance is the old bridge leading to Serbia-Eternal Mother-gentle arms. At this time, they heard that Serbia cannot open its border for them yet.
People were hungry and cold during the long journey. Under the “storm” of Croatian soldiers and the artillery fire of NATO’s high-precision armed forces, they completely lost the hope of returning home, wandering on the boundary of life and death, behind them, the bright red tongue erodes houses and fields, as well as the unknown Tombstone beside the road.
In the corner of the newspaper, a road visit is recorded: on the roadside leading to the bridge of sembuy (Semberija, northeastern city of BiH, near Serbia), the reporter interviewed a mother with two children Novosti.
The reporter interviewed the family again 28 years later: the maevie, it is a tiny sand among the 200000 Krajina serais who were driven from the Krajina region. They now live in songbor.
This is an excessively difficult journey, and it is not the first time to escape. As early as May, Danica took the children to siravonia (another Serbian gathering area in Croatia), and earlier, they fled to the border of the Serbian gathering area (now the Republic of posheese) in bosniana……
Accompanied by the seemingly endless escape journey, people screamed and groaned, children’s dreams and cries, and a shabby Yugo45 (the most popular domestic car in Yugoslavia).
“We are meseciki’s family. This is Maya, who is three and a half years old, and this is Natalia, who is seven months old.”
— Dannica, the owner of the car, introduced it to the reporter who interviewed her. This passage was left in the newspaper Novosti and became the witness of Natalia jokedge’s fantastic journey today. At that time, little Natalia could not even use milk bottles, but she had already followed her mother and sister through many places: Veljun, Slunj, raça, but this initial starting point was not a journey of pleasure, but full of pain, sadness and prayer.
Tired dannica accepted the reporter’s road visit while trying to make her little daughter fall asleep earlier. She patted her daughter’s arm gently, even if she had already passed out on the long escape road and surrounded by the fidgety car exhaust on the roadside.
“This is our second escape. We used to live in Carlow Watts (Karlovac), but we can’t survive there. Now we leave there again, and we don’t know where to go, but we know that Krajina can no longer go back. As long as we go back, we will be caught and driven to other places.”
The next day (August 7), the front page of Novosti published an interview with this family: mother dannica and her two daughters, looking far away at the frightened and tired crowd on the bridge connecting Serbia and BiH in shimska-lata, they recounted their pain, exhaustion, sadness and hope in little Natalia’s wide eyes.
The mesecichi family finally came to Vojvodina autonomous province in northeastern Serbia and settled down in songbor, a small town with a population of less than 50000. Can the lives of dannica, Maya and Natalia be calmer? History tells us that we can’t: because they are about to hear the roar of the torn sky in the bomb shelter, and the gunfire that drove them all the way down to this small town again.
With the flow of history, peace finally came after entering the 21st century, after a farce called Bulldozer Revolution. After that, the world of the Balkan and the former Yugoslavia passed through 10 years peacefully-although it may be that one small country after another was peacefully born on this troubled land. In the quiet town of songbor, which seemed to be frozen in time, Natalia also grew from a baby in swaddling to a girl.
Natalia messetic, a girl from Krajina, fell in love with the “silly son” of a local farm in songbor in high school. The one who is chubby and loves to drink cola, once he held the basketball in his hand, he seemed to be a teenager with super powers-his name was Nikolai Jokic, and he was already a small player belonging to a small club Mega in Serbia.
For Serbian basketball, this fat boy’s strange talent is like a hidden gem, but they may not be able to predict his upcoming U20 World Cup, 2014 Nike basketball summit, the 2016 Olympic Games and the future NBA will shine beyond everyone’s imagination. As for Natalia, who took the tragic exile and exile as the initial stage of her life, she also didn’t know that this “Big Honey” who liked others to call him “Jokara, both of them were nicknames of jokiki), which was a gift from God to her and to cure her gloomy childhood with her miserable nation.
Jokedge does not play social media, while Natalia registered Instagram and Twitter, recording the life of the jokedge family and supporting her boyfriend/husband in nba battles in various ways. In addition, she and jokiki’s two powerful brothers loved this “big sweetheart” in a very special way “.
Long before jokedge went to America to play basketball, she seemed to “explore the way” and went to American universities with jokedge’s two brothers, because she can play volleyball-a female professional skill that is very common in the Balkan Athlete family-and finally let jokiki start his trip to America with confidence. After jokedge came to Denver, she also transferred to Denver and lived in an ordinary apartment with three jokedge brothers.
For Natalia, her husband becoming a celebrity will not affect their simple and ordinary lives. In 2021, after winning the best player in February, jokiki told reporters that he would celebrate with Natalia at home-instead of spending a fortune in luxury clubs like many American players.
“I think all athletes with wives and children will think we are so good,” yokiki said to his hometown media in January this year, “When you have an ordinary life, this will improve you and only help you.”
The once miserable and ordinary Serbian family finally took a group photo with Larry O’Brien Cup and Bill Russell FMVP trophy: without those formal cigars, champagne, Gatorade, in those photos, you can even see little ogynina knocking the golden trophy that others regard as treasures as drum kit.
On them, another gentle light from the opposite of the decency, reputation and glory that people are usually used to: “After I don’t play, I want to go back to songbor with Natalia: it is as slow as time solidification, but you can have everything here: Canal, nature, calm heart away from the hustle and bustle of the city, no need to navigate, this is our eternal home.”
The Natalya of Coco began with a gloomy and desperate beginning. She and the young mother drew eternal wounds for such a war era on the front page of Serbian newspapers. It was that country that was torn apart, neighbors turn into enemies, a symbol of the displacement of all living beings.
And 28 years later, she embraced her lovely daughter, the golden trophy, the gentle smile and the pink small bowknot on Ognina’s head replaced those black wings once covered over the roofs of mesichic and Jokic’s homes, and also replaced the explosion and fire, the shadow of ashes and death.
“Even in the face of unimaginable difficulties, brighter days will come.”
Perhaps, a never-ending upward heart like this will inspire people all the time as jokedge climbed to the top of basketball and Natalia’s stories full of healing power.
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(Text/lamb)
