Camel from Kyzylkum

Preface

SEVERAL YEARS AGO, my husband Sparky and I retired and moved to the west coast of Florida. Our 55+ active adults community is a little bubble of paradise with everyday sunshine, lush green landscape all around, and amenities that make us feel as though we’re on vacation 24/7. We love the gators, birds, lizards, and wildlife. Being so close to the beach is fantastic! Never could I have imagined that my life’s journey would bring me to such an incredible place, when over thirty years ago, on March 15, 1990, I landed in Buffalo, New York, with refugee status, alone, with no English and not a penny in my pocket. My life journey has been full of hope, adventures, hard work, constant learning, amazing friendships, disappointments, mistakes, dramatic turns, and happiness. There were seasons of Light, and seasons of Darkness. Bits and pieces of my life that raced through my mind transformed into words that have been etched on paper—they represent a significant investment of time, mental energy, and emotions.

I want to share my lessons learned, my tears shed, my battles lost, my battles won, and my journey to freedom from the Soviet Union. I want to share it all with the most important people in my life—my husband and our four grandchildren. I want to turn my life’s journey into a gift of love and light for them. I do not want it to be lost or forgotten. I also want to provide all members of our combined families with a brief history of who I am and where I came from. Everyone has his/her own story. This is my story. It is not perfect, but that’s okay. I hope it helps everyone who reads it to learn to never give up their dreams, to live life in wonderful ways, to love, and to hope.

A story told is a life lived.