LifeGrid Magazine - August 2017

My Love Affair With Chandeliers
by Annette Mertes Hadley
It was just curiosity at first, a glimpse in my peripheral vision. I could easily have turned away, resisted.
But I allowed myself a full view of what had caught my eye. There was no going back, I was hooked.
Have you ever felt like that? That's how my love affair with chandeliers began; I was out in the world in
my travels. Now I look for them wherever I go. My all-time favorite, most beautiful, most meaningful chandelier
has a history that unknowingly wove itself into my life decades ago.
What? When? Why? How? I wanted to travel to Russia since I was a teenager. In fact, getting there
was the very first item on my life wish list. Through reading Nicholas and Alexandra, I learned about the
last Tsar, Nicholas II and his wife the Empress Alexandra. What they were like as people and as rulers.
Even knowing the outcome, that the Romanov Dynasty and Imperial Russia would come to an end during
World War I, replaced eventually by communism, learning about these real people of history fascinated
me from page one. Sadly, in 1918, the royal family and members of their household were brutally
murdered, their bodies dismembered, burned and buried deep in a mine shaft.
Years passed and I was thrilled when Perestroika (“restructuring”) and Glasnost (“openness”) resulted in
the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Someday I would go to Russia! My life dream came true in September
2015 when I spent two weeks in that huge and mysterious country. In only a sliver of travel, I encountered
restored palaces, cathedrals, and country churches, savoring past and present culture.
My most memorable chandelier experience took place at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St Petersburg.
Simply stepping onto the cobblestone and seeing the cathedral with its 404-foot-tall spire literally took
my breath away.
Inside the cathedral, above-ground tombs of the Romanov Tsars filled the side spaces. I stood in awe
among Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander III, etc. But it was when
I looked forward and above that I was truly awe-inspired. For here was - and is - my favorite chandelier
of all time, partly because of what came next. Chandelier, Fortress of Saints Peter and Paul, St Petersburg
Russia, 2015
For the most powerful moments of my time in the cathedral were spent in front of the Catherine the Great
Chapel. It was here that I learned that the remains of Nicholas and Alexandra, with their children and
household staff, were discovered in 1998 and, following DNA testing, had been interred in the chapel.
Nicholas, Alexandra, Maria, Tatiana, Olga Anastasia, Alexis. All there.
I'd had no idea their remains had been located and treated with the dignity and honor they deserved.
I found myself overwhelmed with emotion. I found myself crying quietly with grief and relief, with the
comforting awareness that somehow, this complex and loving family had found their way home.
August 2017
The depth of this experience remains with me today. In its beauty and intensity, I experienced a healing,
a closure. I came away with a most exquisite image, that of the chandelier, a heartfelt reminder of my
singular lingering. It also became part of my first collection, Chandeliers from Russia.
LifeGrid® Local Editor - Kansas City
facebook.com/lifegridkansascity
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