Felix and Lyudmila

Mary Helen and I visited St. Petersburg, Russia and spent an evening with disciples of Mother and Sri Aurobindo, some of them who are in Auroville today. "One day, coming off the ship we had taken through the Baltic countries, we heard a man and his wife talking in Russian and English about what they wanted to see in St. Petersburg that day." I went up to them and asked if we could share a taxi together as we had not seen anything of St. Petersburg except for our visit to the dark and ill-lit concrete Khrushchev era flats where we met Mother's children.

The couple readily agreed but said, "We do not take a taxi because they are very expensive." There are many people who have cars and drive around looking for someone wanting to get around the city. "They are courteous and very reasonable." We introduced ourselves and Felix whom one can see from the photograph was a huge man, said, in a thick Russian accent, "I am Felix, like da cat". "A car pulled up and off we went to see this beautiful city often called the "Venice of the North" if I remember correctly. "Along the way we"

Exchanged stories of our lives and Lyudmila told us that she was a Russian Jew from Kiev and when she was a teenager colleges would only accept 1 % of Jews. "She then told us that she had a baby boy after college where she studied computer science.

She was determined to get to America and begin a new and better life for her and her son. "She finally found passage on a ship and arrived in Brooklyn." Life was not easy, speaking no English, but she quickly learned the language and became a top computer specialist in downtown New York City.

When Mary Helen and I returned home I called Felix as I wanted to send him and Lyudmila the photo I had taken of them with Mary Helen. "A young man answered the phone and said he was her son." He said, "My father will be very grateful to have this photo as my mother died of injuries from 911 where she was working in the twin towers."