Thread: MY Grandmother WAITED for LEGAL entry and could have DIED!

My Ukranian maternal grandmother and her family had to WAIT for SEVERAL LONG years BEFORE they could come to America LEGALLY. The Russian Communists wanted to KILL HER FATHER, but he ESCAPED and APPLIED as a LEGAL REFUGEE from Communism to come to America. Soon he was admitted, but had to WAIT for some years BEFORE bringing his wife, my grandmother, and family here. During ALL that time, my grandmother, her mother, and their family lived in CONSTANT FEAR of BEING KILLED in the WARS between the Russian Communist forces and the Ukranian civilians. There was DAILY, BLOODY SLAUGHTER of FARMERS, BUSINESSMEN, PROFESSIONALS, CLERGY--ANYONE and EVERYONE who OPPOSED the Communists! EVERY DAY, my grandmother and her family PRAYED their HEARTS OUT so that they would SURVIVE LONG ENOUGH to MAKE it to America LEGALLY. Well, several years later, after what seemed like FOREVER, my grandmother and her family received the GOOD NEWS that they had been ACCEPTED as LEGAL refugees from Communism, and were AT LAST able to JOIN her father in America! And, UNLIKE TOO many of TODAY'S newcomers to our shores, my grandmother and her family DEEPLY appreciated the REFUGE and OPPORTUNITY they found in America. They LEARNED ENGLISH, in DUE time BECAME and were PROUD to BE Americans, and remained FOREVER grateful!

Great post joazinha! Those are the kind of people that we want immigrating to our country! Law abiding, good people!

That is what it means to be an American citizen....I doubt very seriously there's a
foreign flag hanging outside your home even though you may still be proud of who and what you are and all the things that make your culture good. Too many don't GET it.

My Dad used to say anything worth having doesn't come easy because you don't appreciate what it means. There are MILLIONS of heart breaking stories about people comming here legally that are far worse than a trip across the border illegally. More heart wrenching stories of people suffering, waiting, for the chance to come here. Millions of families left behind just so 1 family member could carry on. There was just something valuable by doing it legally and honestly that have gotten lost somewhere along the line. I have met and know many new immigrants and see such pride and appreciation in being here........speak English? Heck got my book here and already learned alot. I will never forget a woman from Taiwan who said the day she got her citizenship......I am so gay!!!!! Tears running down her cheeks. Had to laugh because she wasn't famaliar with the slang.....but we knew what she ment and she made us almost feel ashamed that we lost that feeling for what it all means. There wasn't enough she could do to show her pride and gratitude for being here. She literally was an inspiration........we need immigrants like that. Not this new wave of gimmies and demands and everything.

Bet your grandma says with pride she's American!!!!! Not an Ukranian-American immigrant either. Bet she's not even hostile about having to wait either....just greatful to be here, legal and free. People like your grandma make me proud and so thankful for new citizens like her.

Glad they all made it . Legal is Great . Illegals are a PITA , blood suckers

Originally Posted by joazinha

My Ukranian maternal grandmother and her family had to WAIT for SEVERAL LONG years BEFORE they could come to America LEGALLY. The Russian Communists wanted to KILL HER FATHER, but he ESCAPED and APPLIED as a LEGAL REFUGEE from Communism to come to America. Soon he was admitted, but had to WAIT for some years BEFORE bringing his wife, my grandmother, and family here. During ALL that time, my grandmother, her mother, and their family lived in CONSTANT FEAR of BEING KILLED in the WARS between the Russian Communist forces and the Ukranian civilians. There was DAILY, BLOODY SLAUGHTER of FARMERS, BUSINESSMEN, PROFESSIONALS, CLERGY--ANYONE and EVERYONE who OPPOSED the Communists! EVERY DAY, my grandmother and her family PRAYED their HEARTS OUT so that they would SURVIVE LONG ENOUGH to MAKE it to America LEGALLY. Well, several years later, after what seemed like FOREVER, my grandmother and her family received the GOOD NEWS that they had been ACCEPTED as LEGAL refugees from Communism, and were AT LAST able to JOIN her father in America! And, UNLIKE TOO many of TODAY'S newcomers to our shores, my grandmother and her family DEEPLY appreciated the REFUGE and OPPORTUNITY they found in America. They LEARNED ENGLISH, in DUE time BECAME and were PROUD to BE Americans, and remained FOREVER grateful!

God Bless you and your family.

Originally Posted by crazybird

That is what it means to be an American citizen....I doubt very seriously there's a
foreign flag hanging outside your home even though you may still be proud of who and what you are and all the things that make your culture good. Too many don't GET it.

My Dad used to say anything worth having doesn't come easy because you don't appreciate what it means. There are MILLIONS of heart breaking stories about people comming here legally that are far worse than a trip across the border illegally. More heart wrenching stories of people suffering, waiting, for the chance to come here. Millions of families left behind just so 1 family member could carry on. There was just something valuable by doing it legally and honestly that have gotten lost somewhere along the line. I have met and know many new immigrants and see such pride and appreciation in being here........speak English? Heck got my book here and already learned alot. I will never forget a woman from Taiwan who said the day she got her citizenship......I am so gay!!!!! Tears running down her cheeks. Had to laugh because she wasn't famaliar with the slang.....but we knew what she ment and she made us almost feel ashamed that we lost that feeling for what it all means. There wasn't enough she could do to show her pride and gratitude for being here. She literally was an inspiration........we need immigrants like that. Not this new wave of gimmies and demands and everything.

Bet your grandma says with pride she's American!!!!! Not an Ukranian-American immigrant either. Bet she's not even hostile about having to wait either....just greatful to be here, legal and free. People like your grandma make me proud and so thankful for new citizens like her.

There are many people who struggled to come here legally. I have heard of many legal immigrants who spent years learning English and American culture before coming. Last year I met a woman who came here with his family here from Ukrain. He told me his father had learned to speak English as a teenager but his mother didn't learn until years later after meeting his father. Anyway the woman told me that she learned English as a small child. When she was about 10 her family decided to immigrate here they waited and three years later they came here legally. It bugs me that illegals come here refuse to speak English and milk services.

Originally Posted by joazinha

My Ukranian maternal grandmother and her family had to WAIT for SEVERAL LONG years BEFORE they could come to America LEGALLY. The Russian Communists wanted to KILL HER FATHER, but he ESCAPED and APPLIED as a LEGAL REFUGEE from Communism to come to America. Soon he was admitted, but had to WAIT for some years BEFORE bringing his wife, my grandmother, and family here. During ALL that time, my grandmother, her mother, and their family lived in CONSTANT FEAR of BEING KILLED in the WARS between the Russian Communist forces and the Ukranian civilians. There was DAILY, BLOODY SLAUGHTER of FARMERS, BUSINESSMEN, PROFESSIONALS, CLERGY--ANYONE and EVERYONE who OPPOSED the Communists! EVERY DAY, my grandmother and her family PRAYED their HEARTS OUT so that they would SURVIVE LONG ENOUGH to MAKE it to America LEGALLY. Well, several years later, after what seemed like FOREVER, my grandmother and her family received the GOOD NEWS that they had been ACCEPTED as LEGAL refugees from Communism, and were AT LAST able to JOIN her father in America! And, UNLIKE TOO many of TODAY'S newcomers to our shores, my grandmother and her family DEEPLY appreciated the REFUGE and OPPORTUNITY they found in America. They LEARNED ENGLISH, in DUE time BECAME and were PROUD to BE Americans, and remained FOREVER grateful!

Same way my Great Grandpa Boyko came to America from the Ukraine. Then in WWII the Germans accused his father's older brother of being Jewish because he refused to shave his old Cossack whiskers, and they machine gunned him for it. Why would they do that to a 90 year old man is unbelievable.

Too as I was growing up I was forbidden to speak the old language, as I was told, you are an AMERICAN, and you live in America, not the old country.

I know exactly what you are saying in your post. Those who do come here just to suck the country dry, have no clue as to what your anscestors and mine had to endure.

Also on closing note, after my Greatgrampa Boyko came to America, he never saw his family again because of the "Iron Curtain". And it took 25 years before any of his letters home were answered, and I was 9 or 10 years old when he was able to finally call them on the phone back in the old country, and talk to his surviving sisters. All his older brothers were lost in the Revolution, or WWII. Plus two of his sisters were killed in WWII also. So much for being farmers and beekeepers.