dition, Drana sent Gonxha to find the parish priest. He was not at home.
Growing more desperate and not knowing what to do, Gonxha went to
the Skopje railway station hoping to find a priest. Luck was with her. She
did locate a priest who agreed to see her father. The situation was grave.
Nikola was dying. The priest arrived at his bedside in time to administer
Extreme Unction, today known as the Sacrament of the Sick, which
Catholics receive when they are expected to die. Just as the priest finished
performing the rite, Nikola began to hemorrhage (bleed internally) and
was rushed to the hospital. Emergency surgery failed to save him.
Gonxha’s robust and outgoing father was dead at the age of 45. The doc-
tors and family were convinced that his political enemies had poisoned
him, though no conclusive evidence ever emerged to prove the allega-
tion.
Overnight, life in the Bojaxhiu household changed. Following Nikola’s
death, his partner took over the business and left nothing for the family.
In addition, even though Drana had the right to estates that her family
owned, she had no documents to prove her claim, nor did she have the
time, inclination, energy, or money to pursue the matter through the
courts. Only the family home remained.
Nikola’s death devastated his wife; Drana fell into deep, prolonged, and
often incapacitating grief. Responsibility for the younger children fell in-
creasingly on the shoulders of the oldest, Aga. After several months,
Drana began to emerge from her mourning. At least the family had a place
to live, though Drana wondered how, with her husband’s resources gone,
she could provide for her children.
“HOME IS WHERE THE MOTHER IS”
Fortunately, Drana Bojaxhiu was possessed of an entrepreneurial spirit
and soon set about rebuilding her life and supporting her children. She
handcrafted embroidery and was soon not only selling her handiwork, but
marketing the various types of cloth and carpets for which Skopje was fa-
mous. Lazar remembered accompanying his mother to the textile factories
where Drana met with the managers who sought her advice on designs
and materials to boost sales.
As the family’s financial status improved, the Bojaxhiu household once
more became a place where the poor could come for a meal and some-
times a bed. As soon as she could, Drana again began to set aside money
to help those in need and, despite her busy schedule, still found time to
visit the poor. At least once a week she called on an elderly woman whose
own family had abandoned her. File, a poor alcoholic woman, also bene-
SKOPJE 7