Editor’s note: This true story about my family was first published by The Wall Street Journal in 2008. It has now been 105 years since my father fled Russia after the communists took over, but his five children, of which I was the fourth, still celebrate his escape every Christmas. And we still feel very blessed to have the privilege of living in this great and beautiful country.
It’s easy to complain in the midst of a stressful holiday season. But my family has a unique remedy: We remember one special Christmas, in 1919, that gave us the freedom and liberty we enjoy today. This will be the 89th anniversary of the year my father celebrated Christmas Eve deep in the snow-laden woods of Russia as he fled the communist takeover of his homeland.
When I tell people that my father was an officer in the White Army that fought the Bolsheviks in the Russian civil war, they…
