Left: Mark in awe of
Batman and Robin.
arms outstretched and jumped into
Judy's arms. With tears in her eyes,
she told Kent the deal was off.
Their son was perfect.
After an appearance in a Russian
court to finalize the adoption, the
Siegels returned to get their son,
renamed after Kent's grandfather.
Instead of showing them around,
Mark took Kent's hand, led his
new parents down the three flights
of steps and into the waiting car.
And never looked back.
"He took the hand of a man he
barely knew and led us away from
that place," -Kent said. "He was a
fighter and he knew there had to
be something better."
After they arrived home, they
took him to -see Marty Levinson, a
pediatrician who speaks Russian.
"Marty tried talking to him in
Russian and Mark turned and
faced the Wall," Judy said. "In
Russian, Marty asked Mark if he
spoke Russian." Mark's Russian
reply: "No, I don't."
Within four months, Mark was
fluent in English. He no longer
uses Russian and talks very little of
his past life with his former name.
"He only talks about 'the bad
lady' from the orphanage, who
used to hit the kids," Judy said.
"He told me he was sad because his
friends are still being hit by her."
The orphanage, however, did
teach the children to clean up after
themselves.
"He's a 'neat freak,"' said Judy,
who admits that both she and her
husband are, as well. "Things like
helping to cook or clearing the
table are not a big deal for him."
Said Kent, "I think being asked to
help clean in Russia was an honor."
Below left: Kent and
Judy light the candles
as Mark readies him-
self to blow them out.
Below right: Itsy-bit
the clown holds
Mark.
Both Judy arr:_ era wo -r
time Kent is aax= vyer in
Farmington Hi J4dy owns a
dentist office nn:Defroit. -The sup-
port system arotnci-fherri allows
them to continue to work -and raise
their sori.
"We have people fighting with
each other to take him," she said.
The winner two days -a week is
Terri Steam, who picks up Mark
from Temple Israel's nursery school
the two half-days he is there.
"It gives me a chance to be a kid
again," she said. "It's not difficult
having a 5-year-old brother. I saw it
as a chance to take a kid who spoke
no English and give him personality.
"He's never known any other
mother," Mark's 28-year-old sister
continued. "He thinks he's the
luckiest boy in the world." Cl
::
5 / 15
1998
9