Oct 23, 2011
By Joe Szynkowski
The bickering between Yulia and Masha Cool is typical of teenage sisters. The childhood memories and experiences are not. Adopted from a Russian orphanage in 2004, these sisters have overcome the death of their biological parents, learned a new language with relative ease and worked hard to succeed at high school athletics.
Both are top runners on West Frankfort’s cross country team – each expected to provide her own unique intangible. Yulia, a senior who was 10 years old when she was adopted, provides a steady calm and unwavering leadership. Masha, a sophomore who was eight when she was adopted, exudes strength and a hard-working attitude.
Yulia’s leadership skills stem from her being thrust into a mother-like role as a youngster. “(Masha) was like my child,” Yulia recalls. “She called me ‘mom’ a lot.”
“Yulia never got to be a child,” said Kathy Cool, who adopted the sisters in 2004. Kathy’s journey into motherhood is a story all its own, one that features illness and heartbreak. Now healthy and happy, these three individuals form an already unbreakable bond that will undoubtedly continue to strengthen.
‘We Were Scared’
Yulia and Masha are too young to remember the death of their biological parents, a misfortunate turn of events that forced the girls to live with their extended family in the northern part of Russia. When their family members could no longer care for them, the Cool sisters were turned over to the Russian child care system that was broken into baby homes, child centers and orphanages. When Masha was old enough to join her older sister in the orphanage, they shared one that housed 376 kids in three different buildings made of cement blocks. But the girls don’t recall it being a negative experience.
“I remember it being really fun,” Yulia said. “We used our imagination a lot. We would mess with the teachers.”
Yulia remembers waking up early and running around the buildings – a sign of things to come for the future cross country standout in West Frankfort. The girls only knew about America what they picked up through hearsay.
“You would hear stories that Americans wanted to kill us and they were going to eat our brains,” Yulia said. “We were scared.”
Kathy dispelled those notions when the three met on Mother’s Day 2004. Yulia and Masha remember one thing in particular about that day: “Presents.”
“You had to bring presents,” Kathy said of her trips into the orphanage. “Lots of presents. And it was hard getting in there. All of those kids would just storm around you asking, ‘Are you mom? Are you mom?’ It was horrible.” Kathy remembers the moment she saw her daughters for the first time. “(Masha) was eight years old and she was still in toddler clothes,” she said. “They were both so tiny and underweight.”
Kathy opted for the international route of adoption after being spurned by the American system. On three separate occasions over the course of 15 years, she had children ripped out of her home when biological mothers petitioned to get their rights back. “It’s like having a child die,” she said.
Kathy selected Russia partly because it was one of the only countries she hadn’t visited during her time in the Marines. After her first trip to Russia to meet the girls, Kathy had to come back to go through the court process, one that required the 10-year-old Yulia to make a very grown-up decision. “She not only could have said yes or no to the adoption for herself, but she had to make the choice for her sister, too,” Kathy said.
After a month-long paperwork delay required the girls to stay in Moscow, Kathy was finally able to bring her girls home.
‘Closer Than Normal Sisters’
On the Cools’ 11-hour flight from Russia to Pennsylvania, the girls bounced off the walls with excitement. That is, until they were about to land. “I looked over and they were snoring,” Kathy laughed. Things unfortunately didn’t stay peaceful for too long once the new family reached the states on Oct. 22. Kathy’s husband walked out on Nov. 3 and she was diagnosed with cancer early in 2005. These struggles, coupled with the fact that neither Cool sister knew a lick of English, made for a challenging first year together.
“I remember Masha bringing homework from school one day,” Kathy said. “It was a little bitty baby book and she just had to read one word on each page…she sat down to do it and refused. She just sat there from about four o’clock to 9 o’clock. I never thought she’d do it. She was so stubborn.”
And while the girls struggled to learn English, Kathy did the same with Russian.
“We had a dictionary,” she said. “Through sign language and pointing we learned. It was funny. There was always a mix-up between certain words like kitchen and chicken…when I got sick, they left to go stay with my brother in California for three or four weeks. They came home speaking English.”
The Cools then moved to Riverside, Calif., where they lived for a year-and-a-half while Kathy recovered from cancer. In 2007, the family moved to West Frankfort. The girls adjusted nicely, even though Southern Illinois may not feature the sandy beaches of California or the frigid air of the Russian tundra.
“We love it when it snows,” Masha said. The girls can agree on their love for snow, mathematics, science and their desire to one day visit their home country, if little else.
“They’re typical teenagers,” Kathy said. “They talk back, they argue, they fuss, they fight. But I think they’re closer than normal sisters just because of what they’ve went through.”
‘Happy to Coach Them’
Yulia plays basketball, runs cross country and track and field for the Lady Redbirds. She has been one of West Frankfort’s best cross country runners this season, building off her 11th-place finish at last year’s Harrisburg Regional.
“Yulia has really started to come out of her shell and become more of a leader,” said Matt Hampleman, who coaches varsity basketball and cross country at West Frankfort. “She’s improved so much in cross country and basketball it’s unbelievable.”
Running comes natural for Yulia. It was basketball that took some getting used to. “My friend talked me into playing in sixth grade,” Yulia said. “I had no idea what I was doing.”
“Yulia started as a freshman basketball player and she was just so raw, but has continually tried to improve,” Hampleman said. “We really saw her advancement during her sophomore year. She started quite a bit of JV games for us as a junior and we’re really expecting her to help us this year as a senior.”
Masha, on the other hand, played basketball in fifth grade and vows never to play again. She’s more passionate about running and lifting weights, especially the bench press. Hampleman remembers being impressed by Masha’s dedication to the Lady Redbirds’ weight program.
“At one point I asked her if she would like to run cross country,” Hampleman said. “It took two or three days to convince her and she really did well for coming out on a whim.”
Masha, who also runs track and field for West Frankfort, developed shin splints early last season and missed a chunk of meets. But she put together a good finish and has been a top-six runner for the Lady Redbirds this season.
“Both of the girls are good athletes and they try their hardest,” Hampleman said. “They’re also very polite kids. Kathy has done a great job with them. For what they’ve had to endure, it’s an amazing story. We’re happy to have them and happy to coach them.”
Hampleman said he has never coached a player with more unique circumstances, let alone two at the same time. He is using the Cools’ story as a teaching moment, not only for his current and future players, but for himself.
“You think to yourself how bad can a day be and you come in here and see those two girls working their butts off,” Hampleman said, pointing into the Redbirds weight room. “It’s amazing. They’ve made amazing transformations. Neither of them ever quit. They keep trying to improve.
“These kids are triumphing over everything that has happened in their lives and they’re bettering themselves. That’s what coming to America is all about. They’ve got the opportunity and they’re making the best of it. I hope it continues for them. We’re trying our best.”
Joe Szynkowski is a freelance writer for SISC. He can be reached at joeszynkowski@hotmail.com.
