My Ukrainian connection

[peyton]

As I watch events unfold in the Ukraine, I think often of a Ukrainian family I met this last Christmas. A little background is necessary. My brother in law married a Russian (he met her in San Antonio TX) two years ago.

I found out this Christmas that she actually is from Ukraine. She invited her family over to meet her "New Family" in Texas.

Alex is a Ukrainian Army officer, he has a wife and they have one son. I spent quite a bit of time shooting the breeze (and drinking whiskey) with him. He did mention he was a Russian that grew up in that country. (Yes, he spoke English quite well thanks to MTV and cable TV) plus his military training.

We gave them quite a bit of a tour of San Antonio, and Texas hospitality, they flew home, I flew back to Afghanistan.

Fast forward a couple of months, I see the country close to having a civil war.

I often wonder how Alex and his family are doing and I pray for them.

 

[Texas40]

Puts a different spin on it when you have people in the place I bet.
As I watch stuff about it I think how horrible it must be to be in that place at the moment and not know what is going to be the outcome of your country. But having a relative there must make it a lot more real.

Hope he and his family are safe.

Doesnot look like the situation there is going to have a good outcome for some folks.

 

[DeathGrip]

I'll say a prayer for them.

 

[MSgt G]

My next door neighbor is from Ukraine. She still has children and an apartment there next to the Black Sea. She's getting ready to go back in a few weeks. Has been very tearful lately as she watches the news.

 

[Arik]

My mom is from Kiev, I have cousins there. It's bad news all around. Ukraine has to get its act together

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[the ringo kid]

Here is hoping the best for the Ukrainians. One of the Gents who sets up at gun shows here--is from Kiev. He has lived her about 10 or so years now--nice guy too. His name is Kommissarov--or something like that?

 

[feralmerril]

My grandpa was born at Rozhysche in 1876. Grandma was also born somewhere around there too. Thats just north of Lutsk. A couple of aunts and uncles were born there too. Heard some wild primitive storys about the area when I was a kid. They were german homesteaders there. Grandma lost her first husband there and one of her brothers was in the russian army. He got out and both came over here. My grandpa had just lost his wife young and he had six young kids. I belive they were introduced by her BIL who knew him when he lived there. She had a infant son, he had six and dad was the first of 10 more! Grandpa came over about 1898 and grandma in 1912. I heard a story that grandpa had a close call with a russian soldier. The Czar was comeing through on the railroad and a guard tried to keep him from crossing the track. Grandpa ran past him and the guard chased him to a barn. Grandpa hid in some hay and the guard was bayoneting the hay all around him. The train whistle blew so the solider had to run back to his post. Hey!, if that whistle didnt blow I might not be here?

 

[Arik]

Merril, back then that was either Poland or Belarus but many nationalities lived there

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[feralmerril]

I thought it was known as Volhyannia back then?

 

[Arik]

Up until 1800 it was part of the Polish Lithuanian dutchy. Then Russia took it over. In 1920s it was split between Poland and USSR. After ww2 it all belonged to USSR

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[feralmerril]

Thanks! As I understood it Catherine the Great married Peter 111, and influenced him to open up that area to german homesteaders. My gr, gr, grandfather and brothers left germany around 1820`s and homesteaded there. My great grandfather came here about 1874 for a year, lost his wife and as he had young kids went back and remarried. When he died in the 1890s all his kids left and returned back here in the late 1890s. Both my grandfather and gr, grandfather had the same luck of having their wives die young and they had small kids to raise and remarry younger women to raise them. Similar happened to me too, my wife is almost 17 years younger.
I know my grandparents both spoke german, russian, polish and even yiddish dad said. I am still working on english!

 

[Arik]

Yiddish and German are 98% the same. If you can speak one you can speak the other.

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[Old 44 Guy]

Gosh Merril, What a story. Thanks.

 

[brick]

My wife and I adopted twins from an orphanage in Sevastopol, Ukraine in late 1992. We stayed in Simferopol for about two weeks during the process and Moscow for about a week.