Clattering Sparrows (23 page)

***

Irina Petrova, the Ukrainian farm girl whose isolated existence in a world far from Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston, and even farther from Los Angeles, unknowingly brought to each of us a gift of unadulterated kindness. Determined to overcome her own adversities, she put her own needs aside to honor both her father and Josef (Tony).

It was obvious that she had loved Tony dearly, and it was of great consolation to us all that he had not died on that cold February night in 1955, but had lived a life, albeit quite different than one he would have lived in the States, of love, peace, and contentment with his wife and two sons by his side.

We spent four days in New York. No one wanted to leave. For one entire day, we took Irina sightseeing and shopping and offered her a taste of New York’s eclectic cuisine. Amazingly she held up just fine. But we also put our time to good use getting to know one another, and working together as a group, we agreed on decisions that would have an effect on all of us.

30

WITH THE HELP OF Unsolved
Mysteries each of our requests was put into motion. The Navy Department was contacted to work with the Ukrainian Government to bring Tony’s remains to the States with burial in the Russo family plot on Long Island. Gina felt that her mother would have wanted that. First and foremost was the question of Irina’s health. Leon spoke with State Department officials to extend Irina’s Visa, allowing her to remain in America with her family to seek the medical attention she needed. He pledged total responsibility for her care and support. Leon had already set up appointments with the doctors at Sloane-Kettering the following week. Over the weekend, they vacated their suites at The Plaza and moved to Leon’s apartment on Park Avenue.

Our parting was bittersweet, and we all faithfully promised to keep in touch. Gina was alone, and as Judy gathered her to her breast to say goodbye, she told her she considered her family, and urged her to let them embrace her into their lives.

Our drive back to Maryland was a quiet one. We were all a little bit in awe of what had been disclosed during our three days in New York. Judy and I decided that we would get in touch with Jenny and Billy and tell them about our visit, and plan a reunion sometime down the road when Irina was up to it.

In the weeks and months following our return, our lives slowly went back to our normal routines. The following Wednesday night our Mah Jongg game never took place, because Judy and I were too busy filling our friends in about our trip to New York and our meeting with Irina. At midnight, they finally left. As I helped Judy clear the coffee cups and plates, she suddenly began to cry.

“I’ve been dreaming about our houses on Oates, picturing us from our early days at Wheatley, going on to Eliot, and starting Eastern High, but each night the dream stops there. I don’t seem to dream beyond that certain point. It’s as though I can’t deal with all that happened in our senior year and the year immediately thereafter.”

Guiding her to sit down, I said, “Judy, please don’t do this to yourself. There is no way you could have changed what happened to Tony, and there is nothing for you to feel bad about. You know I believe that our lives are predestined and that we don’t always know the reasons why things happen as they do, but Irina searching for and finding us was truly a blessing or a miracle as Leah sees it, and I think you should feel good about it, and stop beating yourself up thinking about what might have been.”

Wiping her eyes on her sleeve, she replied, “You’re right my dear friend, as always. I don’t know what I would do without you. Thank you.”

***

The doctors at Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center were quite optimistic following the results of the tests that were run on Irina. She had a small tumor at the base of her spine, and they determined its location as the cause of the severe pain she had been experiencing. Whether she stood or sat made little difference, and they were in agreement that prolonging her intake of pain medications was merely masking the real problem. They recommended immediate surgery to remove the growth.

The operation was scheduled to take at least three hours, and Leah who had returned to Boston came back to New York to be with Leon during the surgery. She arrived by train that morning and went directly to the hospital. As they sat in the waiting room, awaiting word from the team of doctors performing the operation, Leah said, “Why don’t we go downstairs to the cafeteria and get a cup of coffee and a sandwich?”

Leon responded, “That’s a good idea. I can’t just sit here for hours waiting. I keep thinking of too many possibilities of how the operation might turn out.”

As they walked towards the elevator, Leah asked, “What did the doctors say? We didn’t get to talk about it on the phone.”

Leon collected his thoughts for a moment. He had gone over and over in his mind and knew by heart what they had actually told him. “Tumors in the spine area can be debilitating, and if allowed to go unchecked, can cause several severe and permanent problems including paralysis, significant pain, and impaired mobility. Stereotactic radiosurgery primarily used for brain tumors has recently shown promise in the treatment of spinal tumors, but the doctors at Sloane-Kettering suggested surgery in Irina’s case.

“Although surgery is a big undertaking, and may involve removing a whole vertebra, and reconstructing the spine with screws and rods, they felt the size and the position of the tumor leaned more toward surgery than radiation therapy.

“Recovery time is all based on the extent of reconstruction, age, and general overall health of the patient, but in the long run, the patient’s attitude is the biggest factor. They agreed that Irina’s determination to get well, and get to know her new found family in America would ultimately work in her favor and speed up the healing process.

“They were extremely positive in their recommendations, and I was grateful that they could perform the surgery so quickly. When she is well enough, she will come to Boston and recuperate there.”

“Well it sounds like they have everything well in hand, and now I guess all we can do is wait and pray that Irina pulls through with flying colors, so we can introduce her to the family that is eagerly waiting to meet her.”

Irina’s operation was a success. She awoke to the smiling faces of Leon and Leah who had been at her bedside since the surgery. The small tumor was benign and reconstruction had been minimal. After ten days in the hospital, she was released. Leon arranged for a private jet to fly them to Boston where she would begin her therapy and recuperation.

When she was able, a call was placed to Yuri. With tears streaming down her face she told him of finding their father’s younger brother and Josef’s family and friends. Telling him she had been operated on and was now in Boston, she promised to call again soon.

***

On August 24, 1991, Ukraine’s proclamation of Independence led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Ukraine and the United States, proceeding from their shared commitment to democratic values, expressed their determination to build broad and durable relations in a Charter for Ukrainian-American Partnership, Friendship, and Cooperation that would ultimately lead to Ukraine’s Parliament voting to adopt a democratic Constitution, moving further away from the former communist model of one-party totalitarian rule.

Once Ukraine declared its independence, it made a successful transition from a colony of the Soviet empire to a viable, peaceful state, determined to establish exemplary relations with all its neighboring countries, and consistently pursuing a course of European integration with a commitment to ensuring democracy and prosperity for its citizens.

For Yuri, Ukraine’s Independence was deliverance. He held a position of importance in the government, and for the first time his life held purpose, and he was both happy and content. He missed Irina terribly, and they spoke often, but he had no desire to uproot his family and come to America even for a visit. He was thankful that the doctor’s had been able to help his sister, and that she was now on the road to recovery. He felt she deserved a better life than she left behind, and he understood that in reality she had no life to return to in Ukraine.

From time to time Leon spoke with his nephew, but their conversations were usually brief with little to say to one another. Leon wanted desperately to bring him and his family to America, but once Yuri defiantly told him he wasn’t interested, the discussion was closed.

Irina’s tragedies in Ukraine were indeed behind her, and each day just as her Uncle Leon had, she thanked God for her new life with her new family in America.

***

Two months following Ukraine’s Independence Tony’s body arrived in the States, and on a brisk fall day he was buried alongside his parents, his brother Vinny, and a grave marked simply
God’s Angel Baby Russo—August 17, 1955
. A green grass tarp covered the markers identifying the graves, but Judy knew that Tony was laid to rest beside his firstborn son. As Jenny, Billy, Judy, and I stood side by side during the short service The Fabulous Five were together again for the very last time.

Several feet away were the graves of Maria, Frank, and Joel Leone. Gina was somewhat surprised that returning to the cemetery had not unnerved her. After her much anticipated anxiety, her calm demeanor wasn’t easy for her to come to terms with. Perhaps bringing Tony’s body home was the closure she too had needed all along.

Gina made arrangements for lunch at a nearby restaurant, and following the graveside service, we gathered for a final farewell to Anthony Marc Russo. Jenny and Billy met Irina, and she told them that Judy and I had given her a copy of the picture of the five of us standing in front of Eliot Junior High.

For the next couple of hours, the four of us regaled the others with stories of our childhood that none of us had thought about in too many years. It was good to laugh and to see the laughing faces of the others, especially Gina.

Little did we know that before long
The Fabulous Five
would be reduced to three.

31

IDEALISTICALLY AND AS A writer, I looked at learning of Tony’s fate as somewhat of a happy ending to a saga we had lived with our entire adult lives. Considering how long he had been missing and the fact that his plane had never been found, learning that he had actually died thirty-five years later than we originally thought, and having married and fathered two sons, greatly enhanced my feelings of consolation.

A month after the Unsolved
Mysteries
Special aired the show featured an update at the end of its weekly scheduled program. The updated segment was brief and showed Irina initially meeting Leon and Leah, and ultimately Tony’s niece, and several of his friends. No other names were mentioned, and the camera’s shots were vague at best. However, at the end of the show, Robert Stack’s announcement that a follow-up special was in the works to relate the full reunion account of Irina Petrova, her father’s family, the Russo family, and close friends at a later date, unquestionably piqued the interest and curiosity of the show’s many viewers.

As Irina continued to recuperate and grow stronger, Leon continued his mission to change her status from nonimmigrant to immigrant. Her Nonimmigrant Visa had been issued for travel to the States on a temporary basis for medical treatment and had been granted to her at the request of Unsolved
Mysteries.

The categories of people eligible for immigrant status include those who can apply for themselves on their own, and all others who must have a relative or potential employer apply for them. After obtaining the necessary information and forms, Leon filed an Immigrant Petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Irina’s behalf, and patiently waited for their reply.

***

As 1991 drew to a close, we were all in agreement that it had been quite a year of surprising revelations, but we were soon to learn in early December that neither the year nor the surprises were over just yet. One evening as I sat reading, the phone rang. It was Su Ling. She announced that she had remarried. Gordon Chase, an art dealer who she had met many years before when they were both married to others, came back into her life shortly after An Lei died. Having recently lost his wife, they became good friends and good company for each other, and eventually fell in love.

They were due to be in New York just after the first of the year for an Art Exhibit in Manhattan, and were planning to stop in Washington, D.C. before traveling on to the show.

I was so excited. After so many years, Su Ling was coming back to DC. I convinced her that we had plenty of room and invited them to stay with us, citing that Judy living right next door made it the perfect arrangement. Laughing, she agreed and promised to call as soon as their travel plans were finalized.

The holidays are always my favorite time of year. Whether you believe in Christmas or Chanukah, the spirit of the season, and the wonder in a child’s eyes, opening a gift or lighting the candles on a menorah, makes everyday more meaningful. It is the time of year to reflect on the previous months and to count one’s blessings, and in that department this year had certainly proven to be exceptional.

Su Ling and Gordon arrived two days before New Year’s Eve and stayed for five days. We crammed as much as possible into those five days, and to coin a phrase from our youth,” we had a blast.” We wined them and dined them and visited Chinatown in downtown DC, so she could show Gordon where her grandmother had taken her as a child.

We even took a side trip to our old neighborhood in northeast which proved to be most enlightening. Su Ling hadn’t been back since their move so many years before, and since all of our friends had moved away long ago, we no longer had a reason to return to the area either.

Our old houses were still there, and they looked pretty good. Our house had a white picket fence out front while Judy’s had a hedge around the front yard. The lawns were green even though it was winter, and the bushes were neatly trimmed. The remaining houses in the row were also well kept and all were occupied. There was nothing to indicate that our old house was still a doctor’s office.

The apartments across the street were also maintained beautifully—all were freshly painted and landscaped. The trees lining the street on both sides were planted long after we lived there and made the area seem more like the suburbs than the city.

As we rode up the street towards Wheatley Elementary School, we noticed that throughout the area the many row houses and apartments echoed our houses on Oates and each time we passed a house or apartment where one of our friends had lived, one of us would gleefully say, “Oh, we just passed Barbara’s house.” Or “Isn’t that where Harvey lived?” And we would all laugh.

When we got to the school, the entire area was fenced in and bulldozers sat behind the large sign announcing the renovation that was due to begin after the first of the year. We wondered what the new Wheatley would look like.

Driving back to Bladensburg Road, we passed the corner where the Columbia Laundry owned by Su Ling’s father once stood. After being boarded up for years until the trial ended, it was now an automotive and transmission business.

Next we came to Su Ling and An Lei’s house. It too was well-kept and painted a bright blue with anchor fencing around the front yard. A short way up the street stood Hu Chen’s old place that had once housed his Chinese Hand Laundry which he converted back to living quarters when he remarried and they purchased the larger Columbia Laundry.

The four small stores across from Su Ling’s house that once included Wexler’s Drug Store were gone. In the space they once occupied stood a large new building with four stores at ground level and apartments above.

The condition of the area in general had greatly changed, and in some cases for the better in order to keep up with the times. The Ford Dealership was gone as was the gas station across from it. But as we drove further down the street, there was a much larger gas station that appeared to be quite new. Where the large Sears and Roebuck Department Store once stood was a huge vacant lot which was grass covered and appeared to be a park area although it was not designated as such.

The Polar Bear Frozen Custard Store was gone and in its place was a nail salon. Further up the street towards Benning Road where the Giant Grocery Store once stood alone, was now a shopping center with other stores as well. Nothing we saw evoked memories of when we lived there. As we drove past Eliot and Eastern High, it was pretty much the same.

On the other hand, the City was magnificently decorated for Christmas, and we along with thousands of tourists visited the Ellipse to see the national Christmas tree and the annual Christmas Pageant of Peace. The main tree surrounded by 56 small varieties, one for each state, territory, and the District of Columbia, was awesome. I’ve always believed there’s something about a Christmas tree that brings out the child in everyone, and we were no exception. After taking pictures of one another, Ira asked a young man to take one of the six of us.

Jon arranged for tickets to the Kennedy Center, and each night we dined at a different restaurant. We spent New Year’s Eve at Woodmont Country Club, and Judy, Su Ling, and I were in heaven.

Ira, Jon, and Gordon hit it off immediately, and the only regret any of us had was that their visit passed much too quickly. On the third of January, Jon and I took them to Dulles International Airport for their flight to New York.

1992 started off with a bang. Jon’s good friend and law partner asked him to join the team backing Arkansas Governor William J. Clinton in a run for the presidency. Jon who had previously shied away from getting involved in politics, for some reason, jumped at the chance to lend his support. He felt the Country needed an infusion of younger politicians, and he liked what he read about Clinton.

Clinton graduated from Georgetown University, and in 1968 became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. After receiving his law degree from Yale University in 1973, he entered politics in Arkansas. As a delegate to Boys Nation while in high school, he met John F. Kennedy at a reception in the White House Rose Garden. He attributed that encounter as leading him to enter a life of public service. The first election in which we were all old enough to cast our vote was the 1960 campaign, and we had all voted for Kennedy.

The 1992 Democratic National Convention nominated Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas as their candidate, and he selected Senator Al Gore of Tennessee as his running mate. The Convention held at Madison Square Garden in New York City in mid-July pitted the Clinton-Gore ticket against the incumbent ticket of Bush-Quayle.

Jon worked endlessly and I worried about him endlessly. In addition to working for the Clinton campaign, he maintained somewhat of a regular schedule at his law practice and his twelve-hour plus workdays were exhausting. When the November Election brought a Clinton-Gore victory, I convinced Jon to travel to Florida to simply unwind and spend Thanksgiving with my Dad. I told Mindy and Sam that I felt their father needed a rest after months of constant pressure, and that we wouldn’t be together for the holiday.

Dad was glad to see us, and we had a great visit with him. Jon relaxed completely, and he and my father spent many days on the golf course during our two-week stay while I relaxed at the pool and managed to play a few games of Mah Jongg with a few ladies that lived in his building. We returned home and for the first time in many months Jon looked and admittedly felt better.

We spent a quiet New Year’s Eve with our Mah Jongg couples, and by midnight most of us were ready for bed.

On January 20, 1993, we watched the Inauguration on television, but we were invited to one of the Inaugural Balls, and we attended with Judy and Ira— dressed to the nines. It was terribly crowded, but it was a fun evening, and we stayed until the Clintons and Gores made their appearances.

Two days later, Jon was rushed to Georgetown University Hospital. Complaining of not feeling well; he declined breakfast but grabbed a quick cup of coffee. When I pleaded with him to stay home and call the doctor, he insisted that he had a full schedule and left for the office. He collapsed in the parking garage of his office building while waiting for the elevator.

Although the doctors assured me that his heart attack was a mild one, I’ll never forget walking into his room and seeing him hooked up to a multitude of machines, with unending tubes and wires inserted everywhere. He looked so deathly pale. Mindy rushed to the hospital immediately and Sam flew down from Boston the next day.

They kept him at Georgetown for a week. At the conclusion of a series of tests, the doctors told us he would be fine. The mild attack had caused very little damage if any, and they attributed the attack to exhaustion. He took a month’s leave of absence from the firm, and we set out to spend our days relaxing both at home and by taking short day trips.

We went to Boston for our eldest granddaughter’s birthday and got to visit with our extended family. Irina was doing well and Leon had received word that her petition to remain in America had been granted. She loved her new family and they loved her in return. During our visit, we learned that Sandy and Sam were expecting again.

Six months after our visit, Sandy gave birth to twin boys.

***

During the Clinton administration, the United States enjoyed more peace and economic well-being than at any time in its history. He was the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second term, and he could boast the lowest unemployment rate in modern times, the lowest inflation in 30 years, the highest home ownership in our Country’s history, lower crime rates in many of the big cities, and his administration reduced welfare rolls noticeably with the creation of many new jobs. He proposed the first balanced budget in decades and achieved a budget surplus. As part of a plan to usher in the new millennium in 2000, he called for a great national initiative to end racial discrimination.

After his huge program of health care reform failed, he shifted emphasis and declared an end to the era of big government. He focused on legislation to upgrade education, to protect jobs of parents who must care for sick children, to restrict handgun sales, and to strengthen environmental rules.

Sadly, as a result of issues surrounding personal indiscretions with a White House intern, he became the second U.S. president to be impeached by the House of Representatives. Tried in the Senate and found not guilty of the charges brought against him, he apologized to the nation for his actions. Because of the trial, the monumental good he had done during his two terms was somewhat diminished when he left office. However, he remained well-liked, and as his popularity soared once again, Hillary ran for the Senate seat from the state of New York and won.

***

We flew to Boston for our twin grandsons’ first birthday. It was a beautiful fall day, and we arrived several days early and planned to stay for a week. Sam was in a playful mood when he picked us up at Logan Airport, but we attributed it to the boys’ party and the upcoming weekend festivities. However, we would soon learn we were dead wrong.

The following day after breakfast, Sam smiled at Sandy and said, “Mom and Dad are you up to going on an adventure with me?”

Jon and I looked at one another and replied in unison, “Sure.”

“Where are we going on this adventure?” I asked.

“Mom, just leave everything to me and soon enough you will see.”