Thanks to your prayers, Papa turned 70 on Friday, and it was wonderful. Luda and Sasha made a cake in the medovik style, and it was delicious (we also brought a cake from papa’s favorite bakery). Era came with her partner and they made a beautiful slideshow featuring meaningful moments from Papa’s life. The kids and I – with a lot of help from Papa’s friends – made a happy birthday video (shout out to VidDay, which made the process seamless). Mitya picked out a balloon from Party Starts Here and flowers from Trader Joe’s and the older two kids wrote cards for Dedushka. We read the cards out loud. Then, after Era and Rishi sang My Way by Frank Sinatra, our amazing caregiver had the idea that we ALL should sing together, so here’s to living life My Way, papa. We each got up and said a toast, and then, suddenly, it was ten o’clock and time to go home. It was a beautiful evening! Honestly, better than I thought it would go. Most importantly, Papa looked really happy.

Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers. The last two months have been tough, but your prayers carried us to this weekend. Thank you. Please keep praying for us!