During this time of uncertainty and upheaval in Ukraine, I follow most of the news and think of how it could have affected my children had they remained in Ukraine, with birth families. I know, weird things to think about, but it does cross my mind. M is from Lugansk, a region which, along with Donetsk, is very pro Russian, and regions that may be up for grabs by Putin. Russian troops may already be nipping at the border regions. Apparently, they really hate Americans in these areas. I’m glad I didn’t know during the 1.5 months we spent in Lugansk for M’s adoption. I was always so worried we’d be tagged as Israelis, and therefor Jews. But apparently it’s much less healthy to be an American in Donetsk than a Jew. See what happened yesterday to an American film crew doing a documentary on orphanages, here and here.
We haven’t yet done a birth parent search for M’s biological family, and if the region is in upheaval, or changes countries, it can make it much harder to find records. That aside, we feel close to Ukraine and the stoic Ukrainian people we remember so well. They are the original Cossacks, and very tough. Everyone is asking why Ukrainian forces in Crimea didn’t fight the Russians. Well, in addition to it being a pretty good way to die really quickly, apparently they never received orders from the Ukrainian government in Kiev. They didn’t fight and they didn’t give up their arms. They just stood by and watched the Russians take over their bases, ships and sub. I’ve been following events there closely and The Interpreter  has a really good daily update I’ve been reading ever since events began on the Meidan.
a twice-told tale 