Cover Story
Living the American
West Frankfort’s Cool sisters over By Joe Szynkowski
T
Senior Yulia Cool runs cross country and also plays for the Lady Redbirds basketball team.
he 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
The orphanage where Yulia and
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