Velvet Crossovers
by
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Chapter Four Tuesday, September 19th, The Flight East As we left New York, her skyline faded into the background while we flew along the southern edge of Long Island. Soon after, the skies darkened as we approached an “early night” far above the Atlantic Ocean. It was time to sleep, but I was too wound up to do much else but catnap. John stared endlessly out the window into the black heavens, watching for occasional faint glimmers of light coming from other airplanes and ships in the distance. While dozing in and out of a light sleep, I suddenly felt my dad's right hand atop my left. In the dimly lit confines of the Ilyushin IL-62 turbo jet cabin, I could make out his face as he stared at me with the nicest, slight smile I'd ever seen him give. He gently squeezed my hand. Neither of us said a word. We didn't have to. His smile, his touch, the look in his eyes – and my heart knew that he was thanking me for helping to make this trip a reality for him. I knew that's what he meant just as sure as I knew my own name. After that, we both napped. Soon we could see more clouds below. We were told by the pilot that Prague's Ruzyně Airport was fogged in, so we were being detoured to Bratislava [Brah-tee-slah-vah], about 210 miles southeast of Prague. Our 10:40 a.m. arrival in Prague would have to wait 2 more hours for Mother Nature. The pilot set down the 175 foot long Ilyushin gently onto the runway at Bratislava Airport, and slowly rolled toward the terminal area. Still on the pavement some distance away from the terminal, we stopped and the engines slowly wound down to a halt. The cabin air conditioning was turned off and we sat in silence – looking out the windows. This was my first glimpse into the world of a communist country.
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About the Book
A story of what happened to the author's family and the Czechoslovak nation during a pivotal moment in history, as the Iron Curtain began to fracture, as the sun began to set on the Soviet empire, and as Communist Czechoslovakia changed forever.
It is said that history repeats itself. One can recall Russian tanks rolling through Czechoslovakia in 1968 and again in this 1989 story; only to see those same, frightful images replayed in Georgia in 2008 and the Ukraine in 2014.
About the Author
The author visited Communist Czechoslovakia from mid-September to very early October 1989 to visit relatives. He had never met most of them before. His cousins drove him from one end of the country to the other as they introduced him to Czechoslovakia. The author's Slovak heritage has been in his family since birth, and he grew up performing the music of a country that he now saw in person for the first time. He is a Mechanical Engineer who became a Registered Dental Hygienist after his 24 year career with IBM. He has taught both engineering and biology courses at the college level, and has written over 20 technical reports while with IBM. He has received IBM Corporate Level Author's Recognition and Invention Awards. His lifelong hobby has been music.