Well, it has been about two weeks since I have added to my blog, and I am very sorry to my readers who so loyally log in.
It's just that after spending 4 weeks travelling around Europe, I have found it hard to find anything that could be deemed interesting to write about.
I suppose I could have written about my first two weeks back at school, and although there have been a few highlights there, it has hardly been anything worth really writing about!!
BUT... the events of the past 24 hours have just about been some of the best of my life.
Yep. That's a big call, but I better give you the background to it.
About 20 years ago when we were living in Ballarat, we saw a notice on the church bulletin one week. It was asking for host families to take on children from Russia who came from the Chernobyl area who were coming to Australia for about 8 weeks.
It was basically to give them some respite from the conditions they were living in.
We thought "Why not"? as we had two young boys at the time and a 3rd child on the way.
Given those circumstances, why on earth did we volunteer? We still ask ourselves the same question, but not once have we regretted the choice we made.
And after the past 24 hours, the choice we made is even more special.
We were accepted into the program and made the trip to Melb to pick up our allotted child. There were quite a few placed in Ballarat, so we quickly established a network and we did so many things together with other families, and made so many new friends.
It also meant that the Russian children were able to regularly have contact with each other.
Our child was a young 11 year old named Ilia Kuzin.
The nervousness from everyone was evident, and we packed Ilia into the car and made the trip back to Ballarat. Of course, we weren't to know that Ilia suffered from car sickness and got horribly sick on the way home!!
Over the next few days we began to feel very comfortable with each other, and Ilia came to school with me each day. This in itself was an experience as Ilia had no road sense whatsoever, and riding to school was just terrifying. Not for Ilia, just me!!
For example, riding on any side of the road was natural for Ilia!!
Also, occasionally at school during the lunch breaks, another staff member would come and grab me to say "That Russian kid is riding his bike in the yard again"!! Yep. While all the other kids were playing ball games, Ilia had grabbed his bike and was flying around the playground, dodging kids, and keeping a few steps ahead of the teacher chasing him!!
Despite this, it was just a great experience to have Ilia with us for that time. I could write a hundred pages about what we did during that time, it was just so special
The hardest thing was when the time came for Ilia to go back home. This was heartbreaking for all of us as we had bonded so well.
I remember leaving the airport with tears in my eyes thinking "We will never see him again".
Fast forward 20 years, and due to social media, we were able to connect again. Ilia had located our eldest boy Sam on Facebook, and then I became connected.
Facebook cops a lot of flak, but when used properly it is a fantastic communication tool.
Ilia and I have been communicating for about a year, and a few weeks ago he sent a message to say that he and his family were coming to Australia, and they wanted to see us again.
How good was this !!!
And last night, Ilia, his wife and daughter made it to Bendigo and spent the night with us.
It was strange beforehand, as when we last saw Ilia he was an 11 year old boy, and now he is a 30 year old man with a wife and child.
And this did not matter one bit. It was like we just picked up from where we last saw each other.
We just spent the night talking, going through photos, and just enjoying being together again. We also got our great friends, Nev and Nat Zimmer to come over, and this night will go down as one that will never be forgotten.
It was tough saying goodbye today, but we are very keen to repay their commitment in coming to see us and hope to visit them in Moscow in the next few years.
I could go on and on about this visit, but the main thing is that Ilia made it quite clear to us that the time he spent with us as a child changed his life. That brought tears to our eyes!!
Ilia and his beautiful wife and daughter are spending the next 3 weeks touring parts of Australia, and we hope we can see them again before they head back to Moscow.
Their visit has been one of the highlights of my life, and we were so humbled that they took the time, effort and expense to come and see us.
Ilia will always be a special part of our family.
Myself, Sam, Ilia and Will. About 1996!
Our family with Ilia.
Jenny and Ilia in a special moment last night.
Ilia drinking my home brew beer. He liked it so much he took a stash with him today!!
With Nev and Nat.
Lachie, Nev and Ilia.
Will and Lachie and myself with Ilia and his family.
We are still pinching ourselves that we have caught up again after never thinking that this would be possible.
There are moments in our lives that we will forever treasure, and this is definitely one of those for me.
As always Readers,
Until my next post...
Cheers!
