“Vitalie” was not his name originally!

A Secret
A Child That Supposedly Didn’t Exist

A Secret

In Moldova, elderly people are held in high esteem and their opinions matter. So, when a child is born, his or her grandfather often gives it its name.
Vitalie’s grandfather had his own strong opinions and he decreed that if his first grandchild happens to be a boy, his name should be “Pavel”.
For the baby about to be born, it would be the same name as that of his great-grandfather.

At long last the time has come! The baby has arrived!
“My son has been born!”, says overjoyed Georgi.

The eldest son is born to the Zubco family!

With the news, the name “Pavel” spreads throughout the village.
Georgi, the happiest father in the village that day, is ecstatic and in such a mood he goes to the townhall to register his son’s birth.

The building stands there as it has always been, and not at all impressive for that matter. But today it is kind of different, it looks as if it were smiling while waiting for Georgi to step in.

Georgi, who feels happier and happier, heads for the reception.
And the place also seems to have come to work for the Zubco family today.

“Mr. Zubco, what’s your baby’s name?”
“Well, my son’s name is Pavel.”

But Georgi keeps on thinking.
“Pavel? Did I say Pavel? Pavel …. No, no, no! Pavel is too classic and out of date! We’re in a new era. Something more modern would be appropriate. A cool name that is modern?…Well, let me think. What could it be? What’s in fashion now? ”

He asked to the receptionist,
“What kind of name is in fashion now?”
“Hmm, I often hear the name VITALIE these days.”

“VITALIE” … Oh, yes! Vitalie! Good! Let’s do it. Cool! Vitalie it is!”

So, in the end, the receptionist at the town hall registers that name as the name of the eldest son of the Zubco family!

And now you can see the figure of Georgi wandering around the streets on his way back home. The image of the happy face of his father, who wanted his first grandson named Pavel, doesn’t leave his mind even for a moment.
And those legs of his, which should be moving forward so lightly, are now stomping heavily in the dull scenery.

And as it happened the time went by without Georgi’s revealing to everyone the fact that his son was actually named Vitalie, not Pavel.

The young Pavel has a good time every day.
On cold days, he basks in the sun at his favorite place. And he loves it in front of the barn. Wrapped in the warmth of the sunshine, he sits down and follows something with his eyes.
Black bugs and red bugs that are busy moving around even in the cold. Yes, it’s a ladybug or a ladybird.
And from time to time, he did “a bad thing” to those little friends, which was spitting on them.

A Child That Supposedly Didn’t Exist

In Moldova, the new school year begins in September.
And so, young Pavel goes to school with a glittering face.
As he enters the classroom, a view of a new notebook on each desk catches his eyes!
A beautiful notebook is shining on the desk of the seat where it is said to be Pavel’s seat.
But Pavel feels something strange is going on. The name of a different person is written there: “VITALIE”

The teacher starts calling the roll to confirm all of the students’ names in the new class.

“Eagle!”
“Here!”
“Elena!”
“Here!”

Pavel also gets excited and waits for his name to be called.

“Daniel!”
“Here!”
“Auriel”
“Here!”

And all reply, one after another.
Pavel waits in expectation to be the next one.

“Victor!”,…”Aurica!”,…
“Vitalie!”
“…………” (Silence.)
All eyes are roving about the room. Pavel also scans all faces.

“Vitalie!”

“Teacher, what the heck of a name is Vitalie?!

I’ve never heard of a child with that name!”

As the teacher raises his face from above the register the one in his line of sight is none other than Pavel.
All eyes immediately focus on him.

“You, Vitalie?!”

The beginning of Vitalie’s life was full of Vitalie-like happenings!(Laughs)

Even now, when he returns to his hometown, people call him
“Pavel” or “Pavrusha”.

When I asked Vitalie himself, “Which do you like better Pavel Zubco or Vitalie Zubco?”,

he replied, “I am happy with the name Vitalie”.

Vitalie is derived from Latin, 
Romanian viața.
 Viata is to mean 
to be full of vitality!
It means life or lives.

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