Reds, Revisited

Septuagenerian?  More like an octogenarian!  But however old Sloan was, she told a tale that Paulette and I would recall for many years to come....

As Sloan sipped her Bloody Mary and leaned in to take bites of her omelette, she told us fragments of her life.  "Well, I was born here, of course, but my parents were journalists.  And they were very interested in the workers' cause.  They decided to go to Russia to write about the Bolsheviks.  This was in 1920, I think.  I was just a baby."

"What?  You went to Russia as a baby?  Wasn't it dangerous?" I exclaimed.  I swung around to see the amazed expression on Paulette's face, before looking back at Sloan to hear her answer.

"Yes, yes.  It was extremely dangerous."  Sloan sat up a little straighter and had another sip, before continuing.  "But my parents were very much of the time.  Or at least, that is what I gathered.   Mother had been a suffragette and Dad was truly concerned about the plight of the worker - you know, things were very different then.  There was no insurance, no pensions, none of that.  So anyway, we went to Russia, and they both got a number of pieces published.  I believe they were the only American journalists in Russia and they had to sneak over the border from Finland to get there."

"Wow - really?  With you?  A baby?"  Paulette looked startled.  "How did they ever sneak you in?"

"Mother said they treated me like a puppy.  They just put me in a bag - like that girl, Prague? or whatever her name is. You know, that girl who is rich and is known for doing nothing, but be pretty."

"Paris Hilton?"

"Yes, her.  She puts a little dog in her bag.  And I was that pooch."  Sloan looked down to tug at her starched cuff.  When she looked up again she was smiling.  She took a small breath.  "But then Dad became ill.  I'm not sure what it was.  Black lung?  And he died.  Mother said she was holding his hand and he just went to sleep.  He was buried at the Kremlin - the only American buried there."

I choked a little on my beer.  "He was buried at the Kremlin?  Oh my God!  Did you stay in Russia?  What happened to you and your mother?"