Here is to You Dido

My Grandfather passed away just over a week ago now, and I find it interesting that in this last week I have learned more about his past than I did durning the 20 years he and I where alive together. From what I have learned, I have gained so much more respect for what people living in Europe durning the World Wars have gone though. That being said my grandfather that I write about is not my genetic grandfather, my real granddad was killed when my father was 3 in a tractor incident so I never really got a chance to know him. Anywho, the grandfather for which I write about was born on a farm in the Ukrainian around the time of Stalin. Now if you know anything about European history you know that this was not a happy place to live at that time. Most of what farmers grew was either taken by the government of stolen by people more hungry than you. Many farmers, even though they had decent amounts of land where unable to feed their own families. So my grandfather helped out on the farm till he was 18 then he felt home and joined the Ukrainian Army to fight world war II. The Ukrainian Army was fighting for the Germans durning this war, now durning battle my granddad was shot in the stomach and had to spend some time in Hungary recovering. Shortly after he was sent back to fight (far before he had properly healed) his group was captured by the British and he was sent to a POW camp in Italy for four years. All this time his family had no idea where he was or if he was even alive. When the war ended, he was sent to work in England more or less as a slave to a rich family for several years. He was allowed to emigrate to Canada after his God Father sponsored the move. He moved to Edmonton and worked as a labour for a year before he met and married my Grandmother.

Now I look back at my life and think I had it though. I cannot even begin to imagine what my grandfather went though. Haveing to grow up an a farm where you where under constant threat from the government and theives. Then fighting in a war where you are underfed, trained and equiped. Then spending four years in a POW camp. Then off you go to work for nothing in Britian. You then move to Canada to find that you know noone and finally you luck looks up when you meet a wondeful woman and have great kid.

I had always known that my granddad had had a tough life but I had not even begun to imagine how tough it really was. Here is to you Dido, You will be missed.