This world is not really peaceful. The heartbroken scenes in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine are 1 day by day. I cannot help thinking about my unique family situation. I am the father of two adopted boys, one from Russia and the other from Ukraine, and I 2 them when they were very little.
Young men now, each 3 his way in life, but they still carry a strong 4 of their origins, although Alyosha less so than Anton. While Alyosha does not often 5 the land of his Russian birth, Anton's feelings for Ukraine run deep: When Crimea (克里米亚) joined Russia in 2014, Anton was 17.
I'm grateful that 6 the conflict, they behave as if their 7 is one of blood.
In addition to 8 , another word comes to mind: absence. I often see crowded 9 of mothers and children everywhere, huddled (蜷缩) in dark and 10 spaces on the news now. But my boys aren't there. I also often see children crying as they hug tightly fathers who must 11 themselves to wars. But my sons are here, and I am available to them.
Especially, in these 12 times, when it is easy to draw battle lines and take 13 events have, instead, pushed my sons 14 together. Staring at them, I realize that I am not looking at a Russian and a Ukrainian; I am looking at two people who love each other so much that doing the other 15 is unthinkable.
