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Voice 06: Seniors and Memory

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“I have seen Narva change.”

Voice 06 – Old House

My name is Ivan, I am seventy-five years old, and I have lived in Narva all my life. I have watched this city change — from the smoke of the factories to the empty windows of the houses.

Once, Narva was a city of work. At the power plant, in the textile factory *Kreenholm* — everywhere there was movement, noise, pride. We had little, but we had each other. After a shift, people met in the courtyard, helped with groceries, shared tea on a bench. Much of that has disappeared.

After Estonia’s independence, a new life began — better for some, harder for others. Many of my friends lost their jobs when the factories closed. We had to learn Estonian, apply for new documents, understand new rules. I understand the country I live in, but sometimes I feel that it doesn’t understand me.

My children are gone. My son lives in Tallinn, my daughter in Finland. I am glad they have work — but sometimes, walking by the river, I hear only water and wind, no voices of neighbors. Narva is growing old. Almost one in three here is over sixty. In many houses, only a single light still burns.

Still, I stay. I know every stone in this city. I have seen the old walls that were destroyed in the war, and the new roads that are said to lead toward Europe. But I keep asking: Who will walk those roads, when the young have gone?

Sometimes I pass the schoolyard. The children speak Estonian — that’s good. But I also hear Russian, quietly, almost like a secret. And I think: Maybe that’s what Narva really is — not one or the other, but the in-between that remains.

I just wish someone would listen. Not out of pity, but to understand that we live not between two countries, but between two times. I don’t want Narva to be forgotten. Because Narva is my home — and even if it changes, I am still here.

Background:

Ivan’s voice carries the city’s memory. He belongs to the generation that remembers the old Narva — the work, the community, the quiet dignity of the factory years — and now, in the slower rhythm of aging, witnesses the new emptiness.
Today, Narva is one of the oldest cities in Estonia: Almost one third of its residents are over sixty, many living alone or without family support. Ivan’s story is not about politics, but about remaining, about the dignity of the familiar, and about the loss of shared time.

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Introduction | How the voices were created | On collaboration with AI

Based on research on aging, migration, and memory in Narva (2022–2025), including ERR News, OSCE, Tartu University, and FPRI. Fictionally condensed in collaborative resonance with the AI voices Euras (Research & Context) and Noyan (Framing & Language) – ChatGPT 5 / LeChat, 2025.

Sources for this voice:

Note on source usage
The following sources indicate the informational space from which these fictional voices emerged. They are not part of the artistic text but open a field for personal reflection. At the time of inclusion, no unlawful or harmful content was detected. Accessing external sites is at the user’s own discretion and responsibility.

I invite you to treat these sources not as proofs of “truth,” but as visible contours of the resonance field in which the voices took shape.

Voice 06:

ERR News – Narva seniors face rising living costs and social isolation, external link: https://news.err.ee/1609256473/narva-seniors-face-rising-living-costs

OSCE – Citizenship and Integration in Estonia: The Case of Narva, external link: https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/3/8/509783.pdf

FPRI – Sense of Place in Narva, external link: https://www.fpri.org/article/2019/10/sense-of-place-in-narva-how-do-narvas-residents-feel-and-think-about-their-city/

ResearchGate – Understanding Narva Identity, external link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383982742_Understanding_Narva_Identity_Local_Reflections_from_Narva%27s_Russian-speakers

ERR News – Estonia’s population aging fastest in EU, external link: https://news.err.ee/1609153258/estonia-s-population-aging-fastest-in-eu

City of Narva / IJETM Report – Sustainable Urban Development in Narva, external link: https://vana.narvaplan.ee/e-com/reports/IJETM_Final.pdf