VANCOUVER, B.C. — When they first moved here, Maria and Sergey Parsyak were just grateful to have a home. “I was so happy to have place to live,” Sergey says with a smile. It didn’t matter that the old bungalow they bought was covered in cracked stucco—they had each other. “We just make decision to be together,” Sergey says. When they first met, Maria and Sergey felt indifferent about each other. But after working together for a while, they suddenly didn’t. “Something just, like, hit us,” Maria says. Something unexpected, but not unwelcome. “I think it’s lovely,” Maria recalls. It was like when Sergey suddenly had a dream about their house, that felt like a calling. “I don’t know where it (came) from,” Sergey explains by gesturing to the sky, before stretching his arms out in front of him. “It pushed me to do something.” It compelled Sergey to cover the old stucco on their house with stone and express what was in his heart. “I love it,” Maria says and points to a stone on the side of their house shaped like a heart and framed by smaller stones. “He was so inspired.” Then, Sergey was inspired to do something much more elaborate with small glass tiles. Maria recalls agreeing to her husband’s vision to cover the house with mosaics: “Let’s try!” So, although he had never done anything artistic before, Sergey spent all his free time creating large and elaborate designs, from dragons to mermaids to knights in armour. “It’s slow work,” Sergey says, pointing to the countless thousands of colourful glass tiles the size of a fingernail. “Piece by piece.” Over the next five years, he placed the pieces, she did the grout, and together they transformed their house into a mosaic-covered home. “You are part of a team,” Sergey says. “And it makes us closer.” And if you look closely, you’ll see their initials everywhere, M and S intertwined. “We’re dreaming together, thinking together,” Maria says. Then they point to the large mosaic depicting a Canadian flag, and credit the beautiful life they created with this beautiful country, where they chose to raise their children and grandchildren. “36 years of love,” Sergey says, wrapping his arm around a smiling Maria. “Non-stop love!” And like they made their mosaics by patiently placing piece after piece, Maria and Sergey credit their enduring marriage, with consistently choosing love day after day.
