Independent Review

WINGS ISSUE NO. 1 - Feb. 02 By Allison Quattrocchi, J.D., Personal/Business Coach, Divorce Mediator, Attorney

"Wings" is a SHORT more or less monthly museletter written to brighten your day. It may include brief takes on personal growth themes for your quick and thoughtful contemplation, adventure travel, soulfood, book reviews, fun quotations, a "share" bag and funny but true anecdotes.

BOOK REVIEW - "I Heard My People Cry"

Anytime I read a book I can't put down, I am eager to share it. This is a true story of the incredible struggle of a mother and her four children to survive in Stalin's Russia under the most oppressive, harsh and degrading circumstances imaginable. Yet she never loses her focus on escaping from Russia and finding freedom for herself and her family. The story of her life and the horror, fear, poverty and abuse she and her people - 120 women and children - faced is heroic. The first-hand reporting from one of the daughters (Lise) who lived the journey captures the reader in the moment and creates a fascinating commentary on life in Russia under Stalin. This is a story of raw courage, inconceivable physical and mental stamina, amazing family bonds, and monumental faith. Miraculously, they escape Russia with the Red Army at their heels, and after a total of 21 years of trying, are finally reunited with family in Canada. Some quotes: Of Stalin's Russia - "From 1920 to 1940 one entire generation had been sacrificed." (This is probably very conservative.) "One day (Mother) gathered books from one of the (deserted) houses, steamed the cloth covers off and sewed those cloth squares together. That was how she made underwear for us." During their frantic escape - "Finally, she (mother) spoke quietly to Mary and me. 'Before we fall into Russian hands I'm going to kill you all and myself too,' she told us." On the train from Berlin to Poland, Lise was given an orange. "I had never seen an orange, a beautiful round orange with dimpled skin. I thought it smelled like something from heaven and rubbed it over and over in my hands. At last, someone showed me how to eat it. That orange was the best part of going to Poland." For the reader, an orange will never look quite the same again.