There will be a day, full of light, when I will return to Russia

“Return” doesn’t mean I will live there or work. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. But I will roam the streets of Moscow, with my kids, showing them all the usual landmarks. Tverskaya street, Red Square, Moscow State University, Moskva River Embankment. We’ll visit Victory Park on Kutuzovsky Prospect.

And there will be no fear. We will see no military vans, no militia wearing their dark helmets. There will be a few friendly police officers here and there — like you see in any big city. Occasionally they’ll stop by a homeless person; or talk to a drunken student.

Foreign student.

There will be a lot of foreign students because they will want to spend a year or two in a country that’s young, reborn, blooming, free, on the frontier of business and science. They will hope that after their studies they will be able to get a job and upgrade their student visa to a work visa.

On a beautiful summer evening, I’ll be walking with my kids in Moscow and discussing Russia’s history. Violent. Turbulent. Blood-stained. But we’ll be happy to be witnessing the dawn of a new ear. Free Russia. I’ll talk of repentance and redemption.

We will discuss Putin too.

“Where’s he buried?”, my kids will ask.

Maybe somewhere, maybe nowhere. There will be curiosity but not a place to visit.