Memorial service reveals a life that was a love story
A memorial to a member of the Troubadour Folk Club, the Labor Party and the Central Coast Conservatorium who died on November 29 has revealed a life that played out as a love story.
The lovers were separated as young adults and reunited 22 years later to live happily together in Sydney and Brisbane before spending the last decade in retirement on the Peninsula.
Mr Valentin Hadjiev died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 71.
The memorial was held at the Hardy's Bay Club on March 14.
The son of the Bulgarian consul-general to NSW, Mr Hadjiev grew up in Slovakia, USA, Tanzania and Bulgaria before coming to Australia, where he graduated in law in Sydney in 1976.
He met future wife, Ms Stephanie Short, in a shared house in Newtown in November 1975, when they both students at the University of Sydney.
"We were attracted to each other instantly and agreed to get together again that week," said Dr Short.
They were inseparable for the next six months.
Soon after he graduated, he received a telegram from Sofia to recall him to Bulgaria, which at the time was behind the Iron Curtain.
"Valentin had enjoyed the freedoms and privileges of being in the West during the Cold War, and now he had to return," said Dr Short.
For 21 years, Dr Short did not know whether he was alive or dead.
Despite her letters to him, she heard nothing.
Her friend, Dr Elizabeth Kuzmanovska, told the memorial service that, in Bulgaria, Mr Hadjiev had had a traditional Bulgarian wedding, a family and a successful career in international law.
But then, "Valentin had a deep epiphany and embarked on a soul-searching journey to locate Stephanie, some 20 years later."
Using the power of the internet, he found Dr Short by email, where she was working as an academic at the University of NSW.
Dr Short said they had found one another again and were re-united in October 1998 in Washington DC.
She said that, much to their delight, they had grown closer in their values and interests, and their "love was as strong and passionate as ever".
Mr Hadjiev migrated to Sydney in November 1999 and they were together "for a blissful 25 years".
SOURCE:
Media release, 18 Mar 2024
Stephanie Short, Woy Woy