The Joy of Reunion

by NATASHA VOLKOVA, MOSCOW

Last summer we were acquainted with Dima. He didn't seem to be an ordinary street boy: he didn't steel, sniff glue or curse, and he always was ready to help us in sharing out the meals at the street patrol. 15-year-old Dima told that he had left home after quarrelling with his parents.
Dima didn't participate in street gangs, but once he was arrested together with other boys. On the next day when he came to the street patrol, his whole arm was blue with bruises. We continuously talked to Dima that he ought to return home. Experiences like this were only foretaste of what would be expected on the street.

A desperate father at the railway station In the middle of September, a man approached us at the "Kursk" railway station, showing a photo of his son. For six months he had been looking for him randomly wherever he thought the boy could have gone. The parents had come to Moscow several times. What a joy it was to tell to the anxious father that the boy on the picture comes every day to eat at our patrol!

The father was puzzled by his son's unexpected running away. He told that Dima always had been a quiet boy who loved to spend time at home. It occurred that that when running away Dima had taken 2000 rubles from his parents. This is why he was ashamed to go back home. We agreed that the father would come next day to the street patrol.

An unforgettable meeting

When the patrol's meal time came, my heart began to beat as I saw Dima coming to the site. The father was coming from the opposite direction. At first they didn't see each other.
Dima ran to us smiling and said he was so hungry that he would eat several plates one straight after another. As we poured him soup, we said him quietly that his father was there. Dima looked around and met they eys of his father who was standing aside. The father's hands were shaking from the emotion of the moment and it seemed as if he didn't even dare to move in order not to make the vision disappear.
It is impossible to describe this meeting with words. It reminded me of the return of the prodigal son. The father and the son hugged each other, trying to hold their tears. Tears of joy glistened in everybody's eyes. Dima was so moved that he could not eat.
The father thanked us many times for taking care of his son and helping in finding him. Dima promised to come to see us when he visits Moscow.
- It was wonderful to see a happy end!