Our Memories

I was lucky enough to know Dmitri and I am honored to be able to call him my best man.

I met Dmitri when I was in sixth grade and since then he has brought the best out of me. Always encouraging me to follow my passions and to be proud of my mistakes. He enhanced everything in my life including music, skiing, fishing and building bonfires at the cabin. I have been going to the cabin my entire life but it took going there with Dmitri for me to really see how great it is.

Dmitri and I haven’t lived in the same place for eight years so the majority of our contact was when we needed each other. He was the first person I would call and he always had a way of making me feel better no matter the circumstance.

I can’t get over how fortunate I am that he was able to attend my wedding, I felt this way when he was with us. At dinner I was thinking about what I would say at his, give him a hard time, tell a story but really get the point across how much he means to me, how big his heart is and how he positively impacted my life.

I live in Colorado because of him, I teach skiing because of him and I married the girl of my dreams because of the confidence he helped me gain. My entire life is a reflection of him and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Dmitri’s potential as a physician was unlimited. Bright, compassionate, sensitive, determined, inquisitive, personable are just a few of the traits that come to mind as I remember the few interactions I had with him as a Global Scholars student. And yes, those impressions were quite strong despite the few moments with him.

In memory of Dmitri

В 1991 году, вскоре после нашей иммиграции, мой муж и Алёша столкнулись друг с другом на улице в Редмонде, и выяснилось, что когда-то они встречались в Москве, в Вычислительном центре Академии Наук, в другой жизни. Так в жизнь нашей семьи вошёл Дима, ровесник нашей дочери. Петя чуть старше нашего сына, и в детстве эта великолепная четвёрка проводила довольно много времени вместе, катаясь на лыжах, плавая в ледяных озёрах и играя в теннис. Дима обладал бесшабашной смелостью, всегда был готов к проказам, испытывал взрослых на прочность и делал это всё с упоением и вдохновением. Он заражал окружающих своей неукротимой энергией, весельем, жизнелюбием.  Рассказы о Диминых приключениях вызывали головокружение. A недавно Нина с гордостью показывала фотографии сделанные в белом халате в медицинской школе посерьёзневшего Димки. Не было никакого сомнения, что он станет замечательным врачом, и будет лечить людей со страстью и полной самоотдачей, как он делал всё в своей яркой жизни. Его жизнь оборвалась трагически рано, на взлёте, но он всегда останется в памяти тех, кто его знал.

In 1991 soon after we came to Seattle my husband and Alexey ran into each other in downtown Redmond. It appeared that they met in Moscow, in Computing Center of the Academy of Sciences. And this is how Dima entered the life of our family. He was our daughter’s age, Peter is slightly older than our son and four of them spent some time together in their childhood, skiing, swimming, and playing tennis. Dima was a daredevil, always on lookout for pranks, tested adults’ patience, and always enjoyed himself. His energy, love of life, cheerfulness were contagious. Even tales about his adventures made a head to spin. Recently Nina with a great pride showed pictures of serious and mature Dimka at White Coat Ceremony at Medical School. No doubts he would become an excellent doctor and would take care of his patients with passion and devotion as he was doing everything in his life. His life was cut short tragically, but he will always stay in memory of those who knew him.

My first encounter with Dmitri was during the reception following the White Coat Ceremony in January. Having seen many fledgling medical students at this juncture in their careers, here was one who clearly was not cast in the same mould as the others donning the White Coat for the first time. Confident, perhaps even cheeky at times but polite and respectful Dmitri and I talked about wide ranging topics from eastern European politics through to surfing in the North Sea and Burning Man. Conversations that continued but became more orientated towards work and the process of becoming a doctor as the term went on. Dmitri quickly demonstrated the aptitude, intelligence and diligence to excel as a medical student whilst maintaining a healthy work life balance. There is no doubt to my mind that he would have made a fantastic physician.
My heart felt condolences to all, Dmitri will be sorely missed by the SGU KBT family. Rest well my friend.

Dmitri was introduced into my life through patrol at Kirkwood a number of years ago now.  After a wonderful day in the back county, I knew he was someone to be trusted and counted on.  No matter how much time between when I saw him, it was like the conversation just picked up again.

I also had the pleasure of seeing him at the Burn a few times.  Out of the crowd, his smile gave him away.

Dmitri and I bonded over many things – skiing, vegetables (cucumber <3), surfing, music (90s <3) and our medical school grind. He was the only person in our class who didn’t have Facebook, so I would personally deliver him every message I posted as term rep on our Facebook group. I joked about what a burden he was – but I secretly loved it. He was so grateful, always emailed me back and was always smiling. He was the one who convinced me it was a great idea to surf in the North Sea in Tynemouth when it was 9 degrees outside – and he was the one who broke his finger doing it. There will be a huge hole in my heart and in our small KBT family.