The enablers of my story are the citizens of the former Soviet Union who, after reading Nikolai Sivach’s article about me in the Leningrad newspaper, Smena, decided to sit down with pen and paper and share their thoughts, fears, hope, and love with a teen, now on the other side of the world, who had come to visit their country. In the end, I received only a sampling of their letters—both Mr. Sivach and U.S. ambassador Jack F. Matlock Jr. told me there were thousands—but my gratitude to those who wrote, and to Mr. Sivach, for his article, is limitless.
You’ve probably figured out how much I love my mother. She’s my best friend, my greatest inspiration, and the first example that pops into my head, effortlessly, when I’m visualizing gratitude.
What might’ve been difficult to pull from the story is my love for my father. My whole life, I respected him deeply, and I’m grateful for the values he and my mother instilled in me. We had our battles, many of them, but ultimately, we found our peace. Dad, I miss you deeply.
And Ted, my big brother, I’m grateful to you for having put up with so much. I love you, bro.
My last expression of gratitude is to those of you who read this book. Especially young adults. We’ve been busy mucking up this world for you, whether through our disregard for the environment, or the belligerence we tolerate in our politics, or the many conflicts in this world that we’ve incited, or perpetuated, or failed to end.
It’s your turn. Create the world you want to live in. Get involved in politics. Advocate for peace, tolerance, and fairness. Spread love.
Thank you.
Jeff Henigson grew up in South Pasadena, California. After a teenage bout with brain cancer, he attended university at the London School of Economics and graduate school at Columbia University’s School of International and Political Affairs. He has worked for UNICEF and the United Nations in humanitarian emergencies, and for a nonprofit in human rights. He has lived in London, Seoul, Rome, Beijing, New York, St. Petersburg (Russia, not Florida), and Ko Samui, a beautiful island in the Gulf of Thailand. Today he calls Seattle home. You can find him paddling on Lake Washington or, alternatively, on Twitter at @jeffhenigson or on his website at jeffhenigson.com.
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