Now, I just bet you're wondering what the significance of this artifact might be. And I'm here to explain it to you.I was in Seattle the spring and summer of 1990 and I had a Russian friend that I visited and spoke with sometimes. I called her one day in the spring of 1990 and she was all agitated and tried to explain to me that there was a woman who's husband had been in the news in Seattle who'd lost her suitcase on the flight to Seattle from Moscow. That was somewhat of a fateful conversation, because she asked me to help Galina and told me how to contact her.
Before I continue, however, I should explain who Galina and her husband Anatolii were ... well, you can read about it in the July 1991 Reader's Digest (The Man Who Flew into Hell", p. 176ff). Mr. Grischenko was a test pilot who had been part of the mission to contain the Chernobyl disaster. He flew over Chernobyl dropping materials to contain the spread of radiation. The Communist government never admitted that he contracted cancer from that effort, but Mr. Grischenko ended out at the Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. I saw him once there; he was in a tent to keep him from contamination. But I spent some time with Galina both in Seattle and later in the USSR also.
The Grischenkos had come with a doctor from the USSR and I got the impression from their doctor that she didn't really trust them... you have to understand the political issues going on there. I mean, I don't claim to completely understand them myself, but I have some general ideas.
But I really had some nice time with Galina, although my encounters with her in Russia had puzzling aspects to them. But in Seattle I did try to help her get her lost suitcase, but I don't know that she ever got it back. I took her out on little trips to give her a break from the stress of seeing her husband so ill. Before she left we exchanged some small gifts. She gave me a necklace and earrings, of which I still have the earrings and wear them from time to time.
Her husband died in Seattle. They had trouble finding bone marrow to match his, and when they finally did they saw he was developing a small infection in his lung, but they didn't have much time, so they had to either do the transplant or not, and they did but he ended out dying of pneumonia.
I attended the funeral, but came in at the back. There was media everywhere and it was packed. Then I saw her off at the airport. There were just a few of us there, and the man, who I recognized from the TV showings of the funeral as being the consulate general from San Francisco came up and thanked me in Russian. That was all he said, so then I wondered what exactly he was thanking me for, but ostensibly it was for being a support to Galina during this difficult time.
One other thing I'd like to share about this time is that my workplace was very supportive of me during all of this, including letting me go to the funeral and see Galina off at the airport. They were a very special bunch and I wish all workplaces had such nice people.
So I will leave you with that to chew on for now. I don't know what I'll share next time, so we'll just have to wait and see now, won't we?
