Bone Chilling Winter

It has been so cold here in Virginia lately. It has been uncharacteristically cold, icy, and bone chilling in a manner which cannot help but remind me of our time in Russia. In 2001, just weeks after 9-11, my husband and I went to Russia for a month. We spent nearly a month in Russia's far eastern maritime province Primorskiy Krai, of which the port city of Vladivostok,is a part. Following David's return to the US after almost a month, I spent a week or so in Moscow, some 5000 miles west of Vladivostok processing US paperwork at the US Embassy to permit the child to come home with us. It was a scary time at the embassy and for many countries post 9-11. During this time, Stephanie and Adam stayed at the farm, and Matthew and Daniel stayed with our friends, a minister and his wife fairly nearby. During this time, the minister's family all caught fevers and a stomach flu, and rather than having them fragment care for their own children, themselves AND Matthew and Daniel, Adam and Stephanie asked for them back, and took care of their fevers and vomiting. Of course, while in Russia, we were only told of this via e-mail when everything was ok and passing, but I am exceptionally proud of how Adam and Stephanie handled this, and Matthew and Daniel too. We had gone to Russia to help in an orphanage and bring back a boy who needed medical care here in the US, and it proved to be a very challenging endeavor for many reasons. We had not been completely prepared for how primitive medical care is in parts of Russia, or how roads and guardrails simply don't exist in some places there. When I returned I actually felt guilty for having left Daniel, who was five then, for as long as a month,even with great care, especially after he got the flu when I was gone. However, the trip was largely in thanks to God for such a beautiful and wonderful family. In a way, helping one of God's children was in thanks for Daniel and the others.
Still, as a result of this trip, which had been in the works for over a year before we departed, we learned to speak Russian. We also made many friends and developed an admiration for some of the elements of Russian culture. It is for this reason that I wanted to share with you, my favorite singer, Lara Fabian with composer conductor Igor Krutoy, singing a Russian hit "Love Like A Dream". This is a particularly interesting performance because although Lara is fluent in French, Italian, English, and some other languages, she is not yet fluent in Russian. This is a particularly difficult piece to perform particularly for a Russian audience who would immediately detect slight errors in pronunciation which could be disastrous to a performance.

The rough translation of the song is:

Love Like A Dream

I'm looking at myself in your eyes like in a mirror
I'm afraid that I may lose my reflection
I don't want you to be just a guest in a darkness Of nights and in my destiny
I love you as they love once in a life
As if there was no sun before us
You've taken me away from the bothers and the t
Trifling quarrels and you've found the keys for Happiness for me. Love like a dream
A crystal ringing of the hearts
I'll repeat with a calm echo your wonderful "I love"
Love like a dream has made my home happy
But in defiance of the dream's rules,
Let it not stop
I forgive a loneliness and a sadness
You said I would never again come back to them
It happens only in a sweet dream
But our love is in a reality now
I shouldn't lose myself in your eyes
We won't change a love for separations
I've deserved this happiness to be always with you
At inconceivable price and with my dream




And this song, written by and Lara Fabian and Igor Krutoy.