Elena

Elena

That voyage we did, the one to Meg’s home, my escape from Russia and the nearly twenty years living on the run — all of it changed me beyond recognition, both, how I look and who I am.

I am grateful to the journey, the experience I had, because it made me aware of things I don’t think I would have I stayed in Russia upholding the image others built for me. Today, I am living what in Russia I could only secretly dream about. I choose my own path. I am my true self. I am with the person I love. And I have no limits as to what I can achieve or want. And all of that began with just one step, with me starting to listen to my heart — to what I truly feel and want.

Though Meg and I have had a pretty though life together, I do not see it as a defeat. Life is life, and our options, what we can do, often are dictated by circumstances beyond our control. Instead, I admire what Meg and I have achieved: we are together, we live largely as it is right for us and we value so much more of what life offers than we ever have.

As I write this, we are in the Mediterranean. Again! 19 years later! I see it as me coming home, though most of Europe is off limits to me, a Russian. Nevertheless, Meg and I are looking forward to our life on land, in a country that just may welcome us and become the place where we’ll come in from the see and even thrive.

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