One spring, I was visiting in Tallin, Estonia. I was amazed to
meet up with, and make friends with a person who was a
professor of Russian/English at Moscow University. Slava
was so proud that his newborn child had been born on the
4th of July! At one point, Slava and I found ourselves comparing
customs and beliefs of our respective countries.
I spied a 3-leafed clover growing along the beach walkway, and asked
him if it was his belief that . . . if one found a clover with 4 petals,
that it meant you will be certain to have good luck? As children,
we would play a trick by carefully splitting one of a clover's 3 petals
so that it now had 4, and say: "Hey, look what I found".
Slava replied, "No we don't, but Clem, do you see that lilac over
there? The flowers have 4 petals, right? If you find one with
5 petals . . . it means lots of luck!" We kept on walking for a long
time along the beach and ended up at the once-distant lighthouse.
We stood there at the base of the lighthouse and looked across
at Finland, just eighty miles across the bay. The next day, we would
each return to our homes.
Slava's son would be 35 years old by now.
I trust that he has had lots of luck!
I always will wish we could have kept in touch.
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