The Volokh Conspiracy
[Eugene Volokh, June 13, 2006 at 1:15pm] Trackbacks
Happy Quasi-Birthday to Sasha and Me:

31 years ago, our parents left the then-USSR, with then 7-year-old me and 2-year-old Sasha in tow. A very big day in our lives.

Charlie (Colorado) (mail):
Congratulations! And welcome.


(I guess "many happy returns" might not be appropriate.)
6.13.2006 1:27pm
ys:
Congrats, and glad to share good dates. Just about 4 years later, on the 35th anniversary of the D-Day (6/6/79), our family did our own landing on the shores of Far Rockaway (AKA JFK). I consider this more of a birthday date, while the period between departure and this landing is more like a purgatory, albeit a fascinating one (mixing the metaphors of course).

And yes, all the subsequent landings on those and adjacent shores coming back from faraway lands were happy.
6.13.2006 1:46pm
The Original TS (mail):
Wow! It's often said that parents emigrate so their children can have more opportunities and better lives. But rarely have any parents seen their efforts pay off quite so dramatically.

I think we all owe your parents a debt of gratitude. Please thank them for us!
6.13.2006 1:48pm
Tracy Johnson (www):
Congratulations to you and your family. Vladimir told me once about landing on Wilshire Blvd with $100 in his pocket. (Or was it $300 or $1000? ... Some abysmally small number to get started in the U.S., especially in L.A.)
6.13.2006 2:01pm
Mike BUSL07 (mail) (www):
Mine is coming up - July 16 (1992), on a flight full of Chassiddim, with a layover in then-Czechoslovakia. Also the first day I had a Snickers bar.
6.13.2006 2:12pm
Matej:
Indeed a most happy occasion, as it turned out. But why leave out Vladimir and Anne? Inasmuch as it signified a quasi-birthday for the 7-year-old you and 2-year-old Sasha, it also did for your mid-thirties parents. So, happy quasi-birthday to all four!
6.13.2006 2:24pm
Eh Nonymous (mail) (www):
Pleased that you could join us. And by "us," I mean we fellow immigrants - because we're all immigrants.

And by all, I'm fairly sure I mean everyone everywhere, except for possibly some very, very, very stay-at-home types in Africa or Asia, or wherever it was "we" first became different from our common ancestors.

Anyway, congratulations and count yourselves welcomed. You followed a good company (von Braun, Asimov, Arendt, Leo Strauss) and benefitted the place you came to.

In other news, didja see the Telegraph profile of Tom Stoppard, nee Tomas Straussler? Lost his ability to speak Czech, poor fellow, but he set his latest new play there. And at least they've got a winning World Cup team. (sniff)
6.13.2006 2:32pm
Shangui (mail):
Also the first day I had a Snickers bar.

Aren't they great? Probably my favorite mass-market candy bar. Wonderful frozen too.

I was living in the PRC when M&M's arrived. I'm from the US and had had them before but remember many people being excited.
6.13.2006 3:39pm
Silicon Valley Jim:
A very big day in our lives.

And a very good day for the United States it turned out to be. Congratulations, and thanks - to you and all the other immigrants who have posted here.
6.13.2006 6:13pm
Bleepless (mail):
We are better for your presence.
6.13.2006 10:53pm
Steve Rosenbach (www):
Congratulations to you and your family! I have been a reader for quite some time, and greatly appreciate your blog.

BTW, my family &I arrived in NY harbor on Jan 20, 1951 (I was 1 year old) aboard a troop ship, the USS Gen. Ch. Muir. A free one-way trip courtesy Uncle Sam.
6.14.2006 12:41pm
Northeastern Grad:
Congratulations!

I was born in the US, so don't have your personal experience, but my dad is an immigrant to the country, arriving from Italy in 1937. I can remember him every year coming home from work and asking when he came into the house, "Do you know what day it is?" The question was asked every October 1, and it was the day he arrived in New York, by ship. As a young boy I didn't appreciate the significance of the day to him - it was just another day to me. However, as I got a little older, and heard him tell of the excitement of seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time, I finally realized what a life-transforming experience it was for him, and of course for me. To this day I call him on October 1 every year and acknowledge the day.

All the best to you and your family.
6.14.2006 4:59pm

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