Today I pause to thank my grandparents, who escaped Stalin’s Russia in those last few months before the borders closed in 1929, for the courage and determination that compelled them to abandon everything and risk all.
The Red Gate: the Russian Latvian border crossing 1920s
Unable to fully realize their own gifts in their lifetimes, they carved out unimaginable opportunities for their descendants.
Philippsen family passport photo 1929: L-R Heinrich, Henry, Anna Alvin
Bless them. Bless them again for choosing to call Canada home.