Bit of a long story so if your not in the mood stop and move on to another topic:
My wifes family is from Ukraine.. Most live in the south central part of Vinnitsa.. The city has been bombed but no where as much as Kiev and other cities..
My Sister in law lives in Kiev. About 10 miles or so from the city center... She had been helping the resistance by her and a few other women were making bread, and soups as much as to fill 2 5 gal. military metal gas cans. Meeting some military and exchanging can and doing again the next day. Out of a group of 15 or so mainly women there were 2 older men who were armed with long guns. Stored at their houses were some gas bombs and a couple old bolt action Nagants, and couple pistols.... One morning while walking back to their houses/camp she looked up and saw what she described as a 'missile the size of a full sized school bus fly overhead.! She heard it hit miles away and saw the smoke etc. Later that day she found out the town next to hers had been
completely destroyed.. It was of
no military importance,,just peoples houses, small farms etc. She got spooked. Filled with terror. Didn't want to leave their 'camp' anymore, couldn't sleep.. She conveyed to us,,, she had to leave,,,it was time.. ...
So,,a little over 3 weeks ago we smuggled my sister here to the US!! She had to get from the outskirts of Kiev,,,to the Polish/Ukrainian border. No easy task.. I told her,,,'if you can get there [the border] I can get you to the US'... - Over the years I've met some very good people in Poland I definitely call
friends. A friend to me doesn't ask
why when you ask a favor,,they just say yes and whats your plan...
- I asked a very
big favor.. - Could they drive from Warsaw to the border meet with friends they had there, and get my sister in law and bring her back to Warsaw. Its a far drive, complicated every step of the way, dangerous.. I said name your price.. They would accept
no money, only for me to cover expenses [gas, food, bribes, etc].
* They were successful! She wanted to go directly to Warsaw airport!. . We bought her a flight here by standby, and a opened end ticket to go back when ever she wanted to.. She arrived in the US.. A bit shell shocked, jumpy,,couldn't sleep much..
We all gave her the love and support she needed to put the experience in the back of her mind... She had started to rest, relax a bit.. We followed the news closely as we had many cousins, uncles, friends in the fight. One cousin was in the East and we lost all contact with him. He has a wife and 3 young children he had gotten them to Germany. But he is lost. We still have not heard anything from him
.. A couple weeks ago a Aunt and Uncle were murdered when a Cruse Missile hit their 4 story apartment building..No military importance,, just apartment buildings, stores, bazars etc. They were good good people,,in their late 70s. Their children fighting and in the medical corps..
- The more news she watched,,the support she saw coming from the US, Poland, most of the E.U.,,our blazing US patriotism here... She announced one night,,'things must change'. 'This must stop'. And, ;it can't stop if I'm here!'
-
This past Friday,,,she flew out on a LOT flight to Warsaw!
My wife and everyone
begged her not to go. To just wait another month.. I grabbed her and said in my poor Ukrainian,,,'We love you,,Please..just wait one more week'. Her mind was made up.. She was already gone,,,just waiting for the flight.... My wife so disrought she couldn't even go to the airport.. My sister in law said to me'''what if it was you? Would I have left?,, would I stay here? I couldn't answer her,,,she knows me and knew what my answer would be. I gave her a small pocket bible I keep in the glove box in the car. Pushed it in her carry on,,,walked her to her gate,,,and she was gone............
- We know she made it to Warsaw. That she was trying to cross the border back in to Ukraine. The phone has been dead and we have not been able to contact her.. All we can do is pray for her and the rest of the family...
What would YOU do if it was your country? Run?, hide? Fight? try and make some kind of difference? ,,,Or just immigrate to a new country and start again?
