Mini Trip to Colorado
Aug. 21st, 2012 01:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zaichikarkyMy trip to Colorado was kind of tiring, but ok. I arrived at 3 pm but my parents' flight was three hours late so instead of waiting for them at the airport, I ended up taking a taxi to grandma's place. I arrived there and soon after, grand uncle, my late grandma's elder brother came to visit. Grand Uncle Issac is 97 years old and he never ceases to amaze me.
He immediately launched into story time, as very old men enjoy doing and I was treated to two hours of listening to his life as a young boy who ran away from Ukraine and had a very exciting wandering life before the "excitement" of being a guerilla fighter and a Soviet Army hero during the war.
He talked about how he earned enough money to buy a two ruble and 30 cent ticket Moscow. Immediately upon arrival, he was seized and since he was only 15 years old, he was sent to an orphanage. He spent six months there before he ran away again and started work at the railway. He worked on the rails, as a laborer on the fields, with cloth and selling to foreign merchants, and other jobs during that time period. After five years, he finally made it home since he heard his family was starving in Ukraine. He wrote to his father that he was able to buy some galoshes, but his father did not care. His father told the family that he was gone forever but when grand uncle came home with money and food with the family, and well-dressed for the time, his father said "and here you come home as a shoe-less pauper!" he left home again and did not get to see my grandma for 20 years.
He told us about how he met his wife, who died at 78, 18 years ago. It was before the ware, but he was still in the army. Fanya was not interested in army boys and immediately shunned him. He met her at the dance hall and she refused him immediately. At that time, she had another two suitors and grand uncle took both of them by the collar and told them to stay away from her. Eventually, he made friends with her cousin who invited him over to their house where Fanya would not see him. He met up with her father who claimed that grand uncle had a terrible reputation in the town and feared that he was a thief and a criminal. Grand Uncle told him that he was an honest Jew, and not like this at all, but did not expect him to believe him so he just asked him to give him a chance to prove his character. So he came over every day so that Fanya's family got to know him while she always managed to sneak out. How he finally got Fanya to acknowledge him and marry him for that matter, I do not know since I didn't get to hear the rest of that story.
He also talked about my grandfather, who I barely knew since he died when I was 7. It seems like the older I get, the more new things I get to learn about my grandfather. Grandfather lived in the US since 1975, but he did not send for us over until 15 years later. Grandma called grand uncle and asked him to talk to him because she refused to come over to the US until he could prove that he was going to provide for his family. Otherwise, how could she leave Russia? At that time, grandfather was living in St. Louis, so grand uncle went there and asked him to move to Colorado. Grand Uncle was involved with the Jewish charities there and could help him get some aid, but at that time, grandfather wanted to move to Israel. Grand uncle informed this to my grandmother, and said that since he wanted to go there, she should just let him go to Israel.
It turns out that he hated it in Israel and left just 3 months later. He finally moved to Denver and grand uncle helped him find a nice apartment for 260 a month. This, it turns out, was too much for my grandfather, and he found an apartment in a very bad neighborhood for 180 and got it. There were drug dealers and criminals about and grand uncle had a serious discussion with him and said that he would not permit his sister and family to live in such a horrible place and encouraged him to get aid from the Jewish charities. He was finally able to get affordable senior housing in a better neighborhood, and we came to the US in 1990.
He was a very difficult man. He had paranoid schizophrenia and this prevented him from having a trusting relationship with anyone. He was always abrasive and always looking for the cheapest solution to anything, even if it really meant compensating quality. I mean, the car that he bought after his Buick died was a Yugo because it was the cheapest thing you could get out there for new at the time, and we all know about what kind of a car the Yugo was! He was in poor health by the time my family arrived because he was dying from heart disease. He was very combative and refused to let my grandmother, who was a doctor in Russia, treat him. She was stubborn and refused to listen. It wasn't a very happy marriage because he was not a very easy person to get along with and my grandmother was a very headstrong woman. He did in 1992 and my grandmother did not remarry.
At some point, grandma Zina kicked him out of the house and said we were going on a walk. But then he ended up coming back in when my parents finally made it and told more stories. lol.
Mom didn't want me to spend the night at grandma's, so I went with them to spend the night at a hotel nearby. Ok, this was a really bad hotel. It was over a hundred a night, more like 160. It was comfortable and everything, but there was NO add-ons. Movies cost 17 dollars to watch, there was no free wifi, and the water cost 5 dollars. Oh, and no free breakfast. Seriously, you'd get a better deal at a Best Western. I guess it had a comfy blanket.I slept well anyway, my parents didn't. But they woke me up at like 6:30.
The funeral was nice. Dad had to make a speech and was very emotional. There was a rabbi and he made some prayers and we helped bury grandma's ashes on top of grandpa's grave. . They are getting a new headstone put in for the both of them. The entire family came, so it was a nice crowd. My cousins have babies now, and they're very cute : ). Grand uncle said that the only thing he wanted to live to see was to see me get married. I don't know, I don't think I'll be married any time soon :/. I mean, the guy I wanna marry refuses to leave Florida, and it's not like I'm moving there, but I hope I can make him happy.
I was almost late to my flight back, barely got in on time to find that they had oversold my flight, but I was first on standby and still managed to make it on the plane. Neither of my flights were delayed but my parents' were delayed 3 hours both ways! lol woot for Southwest. Seriously, they're hardly ever delayed. I had to deal with some stupid construction that made my drive back from the airport late by almost 30 mins. I was going to sleep more since I got in at 1 am, but ended up just making it 15 mins late to work. I'm here now, and it's that cranky time of day between 1 and 3 pm where the day just goes by SO SLOWLY.
I'm looking forward to a less strenuous weekend. Game day is going on at the place 5 mins away from me and I always love going there. Super convenient. As an added plus, my games order from Amazon came 2 days early! I need to pick it up tonight. I ordered Dominion and Citadels, my new favorites. Also, I ordered a tiny frying pan just for frying eggs LOL. I wonder if I can use it for something else...
He immediately launched into story time, as very old men enjoy doing and I was treated to two hours of listening to his life as a young boy who ran away from Ukraine and had a very exciting wandering life before the "excitement" of being a guerilla fighter and a Soviet Army hero during the war.
He talked about how he earned enough money to buy a two ruble and 30 cent ticket Moscow. Immediately upon arrival, he was seized and since he was only 15 years old, he was sent to an orphanage. He spent six months there before he ran away again and started work at the railway. He worked on the rails, as a laborer on the fields, with cloth and selling to foreign merchants, and other jobs during that time period. After five years, he finally made it home since he heard his family was starving in Ukraine. He wrote to his father that he was able to buy some galoshes, but his father did not care. His father told the family that he was gone forever but when grand uncle came home with money and food with the family, and well-dressed for the time, his father said "and here you come home as a shoe-less pauper!" he left home again and did not get to see my grandma for 20 years.
He told us about how he met his wife, who died at 78, 18 years ago. It was before the ware, but he was still in the army. Fanya was not interested in army boys and immediately shunned him. He met her at the dance hall and she refused him immediately. At that time, she had another two suitors and grand uncle took both of them by the collar and told them to stay away from her. Eventually, he made friends with her cousin who invited him over to their house where Fanya would not see him. He met up with her father who claimed that grand uncle had a terrible reputation in the town and feared that he was a thief and a criminal. Grand Uncle told him that he was an honest Jew, and not like this at all, but did not expect him to believe him so he just asked him to give him a chance to prove his character. So he came over every day so that Fanya's family got to know him while she always managed to sneak out. How he finally got Fanya to acknowledge him and marry him for that matter, I do not know since I didn't get to hear the rest of that story.
He also talked about my grandfather, who I barely knew since he died when I was 7. It seems like the older I get, the more new things I get to learn about my grandfather. Grandfather lived in the US since 1975, but he did not send for us over until 15 years later. Grandma called grand uncle and asked him to talk to him because she refused to come over to the US until he could prove that he was going to provide for his family. Otherwise, how could she leave Russia? At that time, grandfather was living in St. Louis, so grand uncle went there and asked him to move to Colorado. Grand Uncle was involved with the Jewish charities there and could help him get some aid, but at that time, grandfather wanted to move to Israel. Grand uncle informed this to my grandmother, and said that since he wanted to go there, she should just let him go to Israel.
It turns out that he hated it in Israel and left just 3 months later. He finally moved to Denver and grand uncle helped him find a nice apartment for 260 a month. This, it turns out, was too much for my grandfather, and he found an apartment in a very bad neighborhood for 180 and got it. There were drug dealers and criminals about and grand uncle had a serious discussion with him and said that he would not permit his sister and family to live in such a horrible place and encouraged him to get aid from the Jewish charities. He was finally able to get affordable senior housing in a better neighborhood, and we came to the US in 1990.
He was a very difficult man. He had paranoid schizophrenia and this prevented him from having a trusting relationship with anyone. He was always abrasive and always looking for the cheapest solution to anything, even if it really meant compensating quality. I mean, the car that he bought after his Buick died was a Yugo because it was the cheapest thing you could get out there for new at the time, and we all know about what kind of a car the Yugo was! He was in poor health by the time my family arrived because he was dying from heart disease. He was very combative and refused to let my grandmother, who was a doctor in Russia, treat him. She was stubborn and refused to listen. It wasn't a very happy marriage because he was not a very easy person to get along with and my grandmother was a very headstrong woman. He did in 1992 and my grandmother did not remarry.
At some point, grandma Zina kicked him out of the house and said we were going on a walk. But then he ended up coming back in when my parents finally made it and told more stories. lol.
Mom didn't want me to spend the night at grandma's, so I went with them to spend the night at a hotel nearby. Ok, this was a really bad hotel. It was over a hundred a night, more like 160. It was comfortable and everything, but there was NO add-ons. Movies cost 17 dollars to watch, there was no free wifi, and the water cost 5 dollars. Oh, and no free breakfast. Seriously, you'd get a better deal at a Best Western. I guess it had a comfy blanket.I slept well anyway, my parents didn't. But they woke me up at like 6:30.
The funeral was nice. Dad had to make a speech and was very emotional. There was a rabbi and he made some prayers and we helped bury grandma's ashes on top of grandpa's grave. . They are getting a new headstone put in for the both of them. The entire family came, so it was a nice crowd. My cousins have babies now, and they're very cute : ). Grand uncle said that the only thing he wanted to live to see was to see me get married. I don't know, I don't think I'll be married any time soon :/. I mean, the guy I wanna marry refuses to leave Florida, and it's not like I'm moving there, but I hope I can make him happy.
I was almost late to my flight back, barely got in on time to find that they had oversold my flight, but I was first on standby and still managed to make it on the plane. Neither of my flights were delayed but my parents' were delayed 3 hours both ways! lol woot for Southwest. Seriously, they're hardly ever delayed. I had to deal with some stupid construction that made my drive back from the airport late by almost 30 mins. I was going to sleep more since I got in at 1 am, but ended up just making it 15 mins late to work. I'm here now, and it's that cranky time of day between 1 and 3 pm where the day just goes by SO SLOWLY.
I'm looking forward to a less strenuous weekend. Game day is going on at the place 5 mins away from me and I always love going there. Super convenient. As an added plus, my games order from Amazon came 2 days early! I need to pick it up tonight. I ordered Dominion and Citadels, my new favorites. Also, I ordered a tiny frying pan just for frying eggs LOL. I wonder if I can use it for something else...
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Date: 2012-08-21 05:58 pm (UTC)no subject
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