Today is the 1,461st day that Paul has been held hostage by the Russian Federation.  Russian authorities entrapped him four years ago today [12/28/2018].  How do you mark such an awful milestone when there is no resolution in sight?

Some journalists have contacted us about the 4th year anniversary.  We have struggled with what to say.  It is both awful and mundane, just another day that Paul has to suffer in a Russian labor colony for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Another day that our parents have to suffer without being able to see or be with their son.  It is both a culmination of lost life - four years of missed birthdays, Christmases, and other experiences - and also not an end point.  It's merely a marker of their suffering, not an indicator that the suffering will come to an end before another milestone, another year passes.

We continue to be grateful for the efforts of the US government to persuade the Kremlin to release Paul.  Secretary of State Blinken repeated the Biden Administration's commitment to bring Paul home and to end the injustice inflicted on him.  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee called again for Paul to be released and for the White House to do more to bring him home.

Hopefully these efforts will be successful.  Hopefully Paul will be able to stop by our parent's home and visit them, free at last, before another milestone passes.  On milestones, sometimes all you have is hope.