Keep up with Sasha’s experiences in Canada as he is treated for Brittle Bone Disease.
On March 29th a group of us went to visit Sasha at home. I posted an update to my Blog which you can find by clicking here.
Please feel free to share this link with anyone who may be interested as it contains highlights from not only this years trip, but also video posts from last years.
Enjoy,
Eric
Sasha is a real pilot today!!!
Mary and Harry Preston stopped by today and brought him a real pilot’s hat – the one that their friend (the captain from Canadian Air Forces) passed on to Sasha.
Now he is a proud boy – having flown a plane and having got a pilot’s hat! So his dream came true.
May more of Sasha’s dreams come true as this particular did!
Regards,
Ira
Finally the D-day has come! The day we had so impatiently been waiting for!
To start with our celebrity along with his mom were given a ride (till Ottawa) in a limo!!!!!! What an experience for Sasha – he said not a soul would ever believe him in Chaussy unless he showed some evidence ( a photo) proving it
While Lena was having a glass of champagne Sasha was enjoying the ride looking through the limo’s window still not being able to realize that it was something happening to him
When we got to the arena we were given a treat of a wonderful dinner and good drinks. Sasha’s choice was Risotto with Tiger Shrimps on it – can you imagine someone from Chaussy even dreaming of it???
When we got to the box we were greeted as Kings there – we had Ottawa Citizen reporter there who took pictures and video filmed us socializing with people there. Sasha had Ginger Ale and Lena stuck to Smirnoff Ice during the game
We cheered as crazy shouting “Go Sens Go!” which presumably helped the Ottawa senators win the game Sasha was clapping and following Anton Volchenkov with great admiration and delight!
After the game we went to see Anton Volchenkov and Oleg Saprykin as well as their team manager who said “Hi” to Sasha and wished him well as well as presented him with the Jersey signed by the whole team!!! Can you imagine it? Lena is gonna frame it and hang on the wall in her house when she is back home as she realizes how priceless the gift it!
Happy and full of emotions and memories Sasha came back home on a limo and fell asleep. Am sure he was dreaming of becoming a hockey player one day…
Best wishes,
Ira
Just before the Hockey Night Sasha had an appointment at Dr. Dave Riddel.
Being a happy kid now after he has got his tooth filled he did not seem to be one when he got to the Dr. Riddel’s office. He was again scared to death, till he saw Dave’s friendly and warm smile.
The preferred taste for his freezing was bubble-gum, of course. No wonder – his passion for gum things is well-known
Sasha has been very impressed by Dave’s tremendous friendliness and love for children and was watching his every action in the dentists’ mirror
He picked out a mini-purse as a present to take back home after the dentist’s appointment and put a couple of coins straight away in it
So, Sasha’s smile is even brighter now!
Regards,
Ira
This has been one of the most emotional days for our Sasha – all the people who care for him got together in one room! To wish him well and to say good-bye for now.
Last time at one of the Shrine Club meetings Sasha was said to be an outstanding writer, whereas this time he performed a song as a present for those who were present at the Brockville country club to give everybody something to remember him by! That was a most amazing performance ever! Everybody clapped and expressed their delight!
Sasha and Lena got so many gifts from the guests of the party that we could hardly carry everything back home! Hopefully, we will be able to get all the stuff into our suitcases now
Moreover, Sasha got the chance to meet the lady with the same brittle bone disease – Joan Ferguson as well as her family, which was an inspiring experience for both Sasha and his mom. Both Sasha and Joan expressed their wish to stay in touch!
Thanks to the game SNAP CIRCUITS Jr. presented to him by Dave Shaw Sasha so eagerly builds different electronic projects every day - which finally took his attention away from the ever-present Play-Station!
Best regards,
Ira
What a great night! The Shriners put on a send off for Sasha and Leana at the Brockville Country Club tonight. There was food and drink, speeches and gifts, laughter and tears. All in all a wonderful time. It was great to see everyone there to support them and send them on their way with best wishes and the hope that Sasha and Leana will return again in one year for more treatment. I am going to post some pictures here and add a lot to the gallery so make sure you check them out as well.
The price of admission was a “Support Sasha” button for a donation of $2.00 to $2,000.00 or anything in between!
Sasha really enjoyed all of the speeches, Ira interpreted for him. To hear him laugh is not only a joy but very infectious!
Our guests of honour also each had a chance to speak. Ira interpreted while Leana and Sasha spoke. They thanked every person who had come in contact with them and told of many of there adventures. Leana was very brave to get up in front of such a large crowd, but she did it with great confidence!
Sasha not only spoke but he also entertained us with a beautiful Russian song.
Each of our guests was presented with a certificate from the Shriners, here is Ira receiving hers.
Sasha was also presented with a “bobble-head” Shriner to remember the men in the funny hats! It was engraved in Russian with the word “Hope”!
Here is a shot of all of the Shriners present with Sasha, Leana and Ira.
I have posted more pictures in the gallery (click on the link on the right hand side of this page) so please check them out. Please feel free to leave a comment with your own thoughts or memories of Sasha. Just click on the link below that says “comments”.
Check back this weekend for an update of Sasha’s trip to the Senators Hockey game!
Eric
This is shaping up to be quite a week for Sasha, there will be lots to post so check back daily! Today Byron Boone fulfilled one of Sasha’s greatest dreams … to fly a plane! Byron, who has graciously taken many Belarussian children for flights over the Brockville area during summer visits, took Sasha for a flight today and even handed over the flying. Sasha took the controls and got to feel the excitement of flying a plane! It was a great moment and I’m am sure he is still smiling yet (does he ever stop smiling?)! Here are a few pictures, note that Sasha is wearing his cap given to him by a pilot in Montreal.
Here we are in flight:
Here is Sasha flying high above the river:
Safely back on the ground, Leana is happy and relieved:
I have placed some more pictures in the gallery so click on the link to your right to see them. Check back often as there will be more posts this week.
Eric
Dave, Susan & Riley Shaw took Sasha to the Galaxy Theatre for a movie tonight. Here is a picture along with a note from Ira. Check out the rest of the pictures in the gallery.
Eric
Going to the movies was much fun for Sasha!
Especially the first part of it - popcorn and Coca-cola ordering:) Actually, Dave Shaw said that it was an absolute must of going to the movies in Canada:) Sasha’s popcorn pack seemed twice as much as he himself:)
We have watched “Ghost rider” with Nickolas Cage in it and despite being a scary movie it was much fun for Sasha. I was trying to interpret at least the gist of the scenes for Sasha and he followed every part of the movie
with great interest. And kept poking fun at Lena when she was scared to death:)
Sasha was very impressed by what he has seen in the Galaxy Movie Theatre! It was the first time for both Sasha and Dave Shaw they have been there - hope it was mutually rewarding and enjoyable experience for them both:)
On our way back home we stopped by a grocery store where both Lena and Sasha went crazy buying food for their last week here. Having got used to Canadian food already they seemed to know exactly what they were shopping for and grabbed the stuff they wanted, which is enough for 3 more weeks now!:)
It is 11 p.m now and Sasha is still eating the pineapple and ice bars:)
Well, let him enjoy it:)
Regards,
Ira
The morning of March 10 has brought lots of unexpected things for both Sasha and his Mom.
You might probably have already heard about Sasha’s passion for Maple Syrup and pancakes - so today he finally got a chance to see with his own eyes how the famous Maple Syrup is produced and to get to know the details of the process itself!
The Westons (Bruce Weston and his wife) accompanied us today and took us to an amazing spot called Edgewood Farms, which has a slogan “Come as strangers leave as friends”. That is exactly the way Sasha felt today.
Sasha as well as his mom Lena discovered charm, hospitality and personal attention of the place where they tasted a 100% maple syrup in the Pancake House on their pancakes. They really enjoyed it! By the way, Sasha remarked that his Mom pancakes are not that delicious compared to the ones at the Pancake House and Lena was obviously eager to get to know the recipe for the pancakes there:)
With the country music band playing in the background at the Pancake House Sasha enjoyed making the so-called “Taffy on snow“, which is a candy made of boiling maple syrup and snow and shared one with his mom. He had much fun going through the whole process and while I am doing this mail Sasha is making these Taffies on Snow at our place!:)
We were unexpectedly joined by Michael Higgings - the reporter from “The Recorder and Times” -the guy we met during our very first interview - who took a couple of photos of ours and interviewed Sasha and Lena to get the updates on their stay in Canada. As Sasha and Lena have already got used to being public figures, they felt very relaxed while sharing their emotions and ideas regarding the medical treatment and extra activities they have
experienced here in Canada:)
The highlight of our morning was our visit of a Historic Maple Museum where we all had a great chance to see things that depict maple operations from the earliest beginnings. Sasha kept asking me to take photos in every corner of the museum and obviously enjoyed the tour a lot!
While we were leaving we enjoyed the company of the horses and beautiful dogs and lots of other farm animals and took a bunch of pictures with those!
What a morning! Sasha and Lena are now back home full of impressions and memories!
Regards,
Ira
Here is a picture from today and check the gallery as I have posted more there!
Eric
Hello everybody,
Just a quick line to say that apart from being a newspaper front-page celebrity and a public figure Sasha is a TV star as well
Sasha and Lena have been interviewed for a local TV COGECO company. They both had a chance to give an interview with my voice as an interpreter in the background. They seemed quite tense at the beginning but in the course of the interview came to be more relaxed and spoke their mind with pleasure.
They both shared their experiences of their stay in Canada with a reporter who was incredibly friendly with us and made the whole thing quite relaxing for both Lena and Sasha.
Three of us did some spontaneous acting while Tom (the reporter) was videofilming our usual routine things. That was much fun to do! Sasha laughed a lot and that made us all happy.
Till soon.
Regards,
Ira
