How Long is Exile?

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Unbeknown to herself, Milda's Christmas trip behind the Iron Curtain, with all its revelations was her first step on her Long Road Home. Also, that trip at the height of the American women's liberation movement, marked her adult coming of age and becoming the ruler of her life. Released from domestic bonds, she struck out on her own and challenged her mind to higher things. When her husband Peter, a one-armed veteran, was asked in the late 1980s to join Radio Free Europe in Munich, Milda saw her road clearly winding its way back to Latvia. This, naturally threatened the marriage. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the road became bumpy, even treacherous. Afraid and out of step, Peter seemed to lag behind, while Milda hurried forward now that the iron curtain was swept away. With firm steps she returned to her homeland; she reunited with her sister Zelda and reclaimed their parents' apartment. Peter complied and came up with the money, but, as if lost, he often went off by himself, afraid of being watched and pursued until he could not walk anymore. After his death and after the guarded secrets were revealed, Milda took her last steps on the Long Road Home alone. Exile was over, but the sense of exile was imbedded in Milda's mind forever, and it was heavy. She felt the weight most poignantly as she watched fireworks grace the skies at elaborate festivals, where strangers celebrated