A Day in the Country

In the Russian countryside, you can visit old churches... ...and then make shish kebabs for dinner.

My dad and his mother, sometime in the early 1970s.

Family Outing

My dad, 4 or 5, sulks about spending quality time with adults (his parents, middle, and family friends).

Granddads

Me, age 4, with my grandfather (left) and his brother.

In The Country

My paternal grandmother hopping a fence while on vacation somewhere in the countryside:

Grandma

My paternal grandmother as a baby, in the early 1920s.

Girl and Doll

A relative of my grandfather's--not sure who; the family tree gets complicated here. Taken somewhere in Siberia in 1953.

En Famille

My dad, age 10 or 11, with his parents.

Mushroom Eaters

My mom (9 months pregnant with me), my paternal grandfather (middle), and his brother pretend to eat just-picked mushrooms while vacationing in the country. Mushroom-picking is big in Russia.

Three generations

My grandfather, a relative of his (a nephew?) and I.

The relative's name is Emil and he has since immigrated to Israel.

Grandfather

My paternal grandfather and I (10 months).

Family Portrait

My mother as an infant, with her parents. Ural Mountains region.

New Year, 1983

There was no Christmas in Soviet Russia, but there was New Year, which served nearly the same purpose. Above, me, at my first New Year, with my grandfather.

Summer camp

My dad and my grandmother (top row, middle), late 1950s or early 1960s. Taken at a summer camp on parents' day.

Grandmother, 1924

Paternal grandmother as a baby (on the bench), with cousins, I think. Taken in 1924, possibly in Sevastopol.