It finally happened to me...

[annashope]

Rio

So long story short the very thing we embrace in this country (US) is the individuality and ethnic heritage. However that is not always the case in many places and I was born into one of those "time bomb" countries. I was born in former USSR but after 1990 it became the country of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has a long bad feuding history with its neighbor Armenia and of course since peace had lasted for a while people sorta forgot about the feuds and Azeris and Armenians lived in each other's lands and intermarried. I was born to one of those blended families and when I was about 6 the two nations got into a dispute over land separating the two countries. The dispute escalated into pogroms in both countries and people of blended families such as mine were in big trouble. My father and grandfather were cornered on the street and told that they had 3 hours to leave the country or their bodies would never be found. So only my mom, grandma, aunt and cousin were left behind. My mom and grandma were trying to sell our house and get our things in order since we had lived there for generations and had no where to go and by the time I was 8 things got really bad. There were raids on the homes of people like us and so we hid for months until Russia sent its forces in to calm the violence. We stayed on the floor the night the Russian forces came in because the gunfire would come through the windows and by morning we heard that Russia was evacuating its citizens and so we tried making it to the airport with the Russians. It was terrible- the streets were littered with bodies and overturned cars and bullet-ridden ambulances---tanks everywhere It was just awful, so we somehow made it to the airport and it was even worse there- a stampede of people all running down the runways- I was separated from my mom and then a soldier hit me with his gun and was yelling---Oh yea I had a huge cut on my face from the barrel of his rifle ( which luckily went away) but we made it to Russia and after being told that Russia would not have us we were fortunate enough to be granted a full refugee status and allowed to come to US. I was 11 when my family moved here and I love my country (US) I became a citizen at 21 and as silly as it sounds I still feel teary eyed and proud when I hear the National Anthem. SO here is it. Sorry it became a novel but this ordeal took away my childhood and its hard to put it into a small paragraph. However I feel it made me tough and a survivor and taught me that no matter how bad or hopeless a situation is never to give up hope. Most importantly it taught me to appreciate things

[to_have_fun08]

Anna - Thanks for sharing your story. hearing stories like this makes me remember that things could be a lot worse then they are. I'm glad that you got out of Russia and are now a U. S citizen. going through what you did, you are probably a better citizen then most that were born here.

[riogirl71]

Anna - I have a huge admiration for you and I am so happy that you came here to the US and that you found the man of your dreams, hopefully soon you will have a baby in your arms also. I cannot imagine what you went through, we hear about countries at war but it seems so distant and we never get the personal accounts. Your story is just amazing, one of survival. Have you thought about writing a book? You have had such a full life I bet people would benefit from your courage. I am so sorry you had to go through all of this, I really am. Big prayers for your BFP!

[annashope]

Thanks girls

[angelaezra]

Anna - Wow, your story is just so touching! It is truly unbelievable what you had to go through to get here and there are so many people who take their citizenship and freedom for granted. Thank you for sharing it and bringing some reality to me.

Angela

[CT_Michele]

Holy moly! I have been so busy I haven't had time to check the boards. I had no idea there were so many responses to this thread. I will come back later and read all of your touching stories, I promise!

[jenice]

CT-Michelle- I'm sooo sorry, I am all to familiar with that pain Before my DD when I worked everyone was pregnant @ my work. I had to watch their growing bellies and it made me sick. I had 2 tubal pregnancies that year, one in which I was pregnant with a tubal and lost the pregnancy and my co-worker accidently got preggo with her 4th child. I went to her work baby shower. You would not be human if these feelings didn't exist. There were so many times, when people are so stupid and insensitive. I'm godmother and a family member gave me a gift on mothers day, to celebrate being a godmother. I almost wanted to cry, I had lost 2 pregnancies that year and still didn't know if I would ever have a baby. I know she meant well, but felt like a cruel joke to be given a mothers day gift never knowing if I would be one. Try to ignore the stupid if you can.