It’s my dad’s birthday. Parents are not my heroes.

My dad’s turning 63 today. He’s young, considering I’m 42!

He’s stuck in Moscow. We haven’t seen each other for several years. His US visa expired and for most Russians, it’s nearly impossible to get a US visa. The consulate is closed for visa applications.

I just called him. It’s morning in Moscow. It’s eleven for me here in California.

“I’ll get you over here. It’s my responsibility”, I said after wishing him a happy birthday.

“Yeah, five-seven years?”, he asked rhetorically.

“No, sooner.”

My dad had a big influence on me. In these few stories, I wrote about my family’s younger years:

Soviet Years (Detailed)

A flashback to the birth of the market economy in Russia— my dad becoming an entrepreneur