Femme Like You

Dear Elena,

I remember your most favorite album.  You gave it to me because I liked it and you had listened to it too much.  I still have it.  Somehow I lost it for awhile and then when I found it I kept forgetting to give it back.  My favorite song was "Femme Like You."  This guy with bad tattoos sings in French with a little English mixed in here and there.  The tattoo on his left arm reads, "Guilty for being the best."  We drove around at night and listened to the whole album over and over.


You would wait patiently while I listened to the first couple tracks that I was just learning and loving. As soon as they were over you'd skip to track 5.

Youi'd drift off in thought and curl up in the passenger seat and look out the window.  I'd keep driving.  And trying to learn to speak in French.

If it weren't for you, I'd never have learned a song about being "Femme" from a person who actually is from France.  And I wouldn't have known someone as "Femme", "Like You."  I know if you were reading this right now, you'd laugh so much.  You would be embarrassed that I am happy to talk about who you are, loving who you are.

Miss you.

Two More Weeks Till Going Home

Our dear friend Elena is still in the Keizer Funeral Home here in Oregon.  I spoke with the funeral representative today.  She said that right now all the paperwork that accompanies the remains of a citizen re-entering their country of citizenship is at the translator's office.  She expects that the translation (of things such as the death certificate), will be finished on Monday or Tuesday.

Elena in Voronezh, age 14

Keizer Funeral Home has a sister home in the San Francisco area, who will personally walk into the Russian Consolate building and make sure that the papers are received for processing.  The Russian consolate is almost impossible to reach by phone.  They will make sure they have all the papers necessary to prepare for Elena to re-enter the country.

She expects that all of this will be finished in two weeks.

Meanwhile, Mr. Lobodin and Kathie and I have been trying to find the most cost effective way to send her back home.  Fed Ex, UPS, USPS do not ship cremated remains, as far as I have gotten answers.  Although one time when I called FedEx said that they have no restrictions on items sent to a business location in Russia.  The option that would work for sure is to buy an airline ticket for a literal seat on a plane - they can't take remains as cargo under the plane.  But that is very expensive.

There is something the US customs office told me about "freight forwarding."  Basically they handle difficult items or complicated itineraries.  There are a lot of businesses of this variety to sort through.  If you would like to research freight forwarding on google and give them a call, tell them it's gotta go from the US to Vladivostok, Russia and see if they say yes, they can do it.

That would help a lot.

We have two weeks to decide the best way to ship her home.

Joyful Video of Elena

Elena's memorial went well.  I saw many people there although I didn't get to talk to everyone.  I haven't received a copy of the memorial service yet.

Her father sent a video of Elena.  In this video Elena is playing with a baby just a year or two before she came to Oregon.  You can download it and view it here:

Elena

He also sent many pictures of her through her lifetime.

7 years old, 1989, in Voronezh