My parents could’ve given me more

Now my time to air my family’s dirty laundry! Inspired by Prince Harry’s memoir. Just kidding. I enjoyed my story about Prince Harry getting a lot of reads!

My mom practically sacrificed her career so that she could take care of me. Granted, my father started making good money when he was very young (and I was a kid), so the fact that my Mom didn’t have to work, even in the Soviet era, reflects how privileged my family was.

She spent thousands of days with me, standing over me, helping me keep up with school. She made me read a lot, at a young age. How I like writing now, albeit in a different language, is thanks to her, at least to some degree.

Even though I take credit for the shiny brands on my resume — Cambridge and Harvard, it couldn’t have been without my father putting me on the path to Western education. It was his idea and back in the day, it was a pretty wild idea.

My parents helped me a lot and they continued to support me in various ways during my grown-up years. I have a great relationship with both of them (they divorced when I was twenty).

And yet I often think they could’ve given me more.

There are some things I’m gifted at. Gifted is probably an overstatement but my entire life I’ve felt a special connection with these activities.

Music. I can’t sing. I can’t play any instruments. But there’s music in me. I’ve lost count of the times when I discovered some unknown artist or band and…