I took this picture of my sons. Mikhail, the elder, is left, Vladimir is right.
The photo was taken in Moscow in 1953.
In the fall of 1946 my son Mikhail was born and in 1952 my second Vladimir followed.
In 1960 my wife and I were divorced. Our sons, according to the Soviet laws, stayed with their mother, but I always took part in their life and met with them.
My elder son Mikhail, after finishing school, studied at the electrical communications faculty of the Moscow Electro-Technical Institute for Communications.
After graduation he got a job at a company that dealt with security systems for banks and savings banks. Unfortunately, Mikhail got very sick with diabetes and spent more time in hospitals than at home.
That is why he never had his own family and lived together with his mother. He died relatively young, in 1996.
My younger son Vladimir, after finishing school, entered the Moscow Road-Transport Institute.
When in the 1970s mass Jewish emigration to Israel began Vladimir quit his studies after the fourth year and left for Israel. Later he moved to the United States, to San Francisco where he lives now with his family.
Vladimir took up photography and is quite successful in this business. He married an emigre from the USSR, they have two daughters. Emily was born in 1993 and Eva was born in 2001.
I keep in touch with him: we often exchange letters and talk over the phone. In summer Vladimir and his family come here to see us.
My son is satisfied with his life and I'm glad things turned out well for him.
