Five years away from the end of the the Soviet Union, at age 13, I had turned down an earned trip the the Junior Olympics national track meet of the United States in the 4x800 meter relay in order to say yes to an offer from my maternal grandparents ["Nonna (1917-2015) and Grandad" (1915-2009)] to… Continue reading 40th anniversary of my trip through the Soviet Union (1917-1991), Mongolia and Finland in 24 days – DRAFT