Ours in the USA: a family from Ukraine 15 has been waiting for years for reunion with their son

Photo: Voice of America frame video

All's well that ends well. The Kravitz family has been waiting for a reunion for 15 long years. Alexey and Galina moved to America in 2001 with their daughter Olga, while their son Pavel had to stay in Ukraine. And only recently he received a visa and was able to come to his family. Getting used to a new country, a new language, and new customs is not easy, but the Kravits are sure that everything is possible in this country. The family story is told by "Voice of America«.

Lyudmila was born in Uzhgorod, Transcarpathian region, Ukraine. By chance, she was in another Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa. Her father moved there for work. He was the vice-rector of one of the universities. In Vinnitsa, Lyudmila met her future husband, a family was formed there, and their children were born there: Paul and Olya.

Photo: Voice of America frame video

Photo: Voice of America frame video

The first who came to America was Lyudmila's husband, Anatoly. He received an invitation from his friend. He worked as a physician all his life, and retired a few years ago.

“All I know about dad is what my mother or grandmother told me,” says his daughter Olya. — Dad is very secretive and doesn’t like to talk about himself. He loves science, he loves playing chess, big ideas.”

Photo: Voice of America frame video

The family moved to America in 2001, in the city of Rochester, New York. The whole family could not come, because the income of Anatolia did not allow to invite three people at once. At this point, Pavel was studying at the institute, so Lyudmila took with her a daughter who was studying in the 6 class, and Pavel was decided to take it later.

“We arrived in January. We went into my dad’s apartment and there was nothing there, but everything still seemed so cool to me. Then we went out for a walk; there was a lot of snow. It was a quiet, calm evening, and we were walking along an American street... Everything was as if in some kind of fairy tale,” recalls Olya.

Photo: Voice of America frame video

The family planned to pick up his son as soon as he graduated from college.

“For the first year I literally lived out of suitcases,” recalls Pavel. “I periodically went to the consulate, and was refused every time. After three refusals there was no point in going there.”

Photo: Voice of America frame video

Pavel was able to reunite with his parents 15 years later - 7 years after they received a green card. My son arrived in America in September 2016.

Olya always thought that in America it is important to study how to conduct business, thanks to which the standard of living here is better than in Ukraine. She planned to be a kind of bridge between the two countries. From the very beginning, the poet really wanted to work in Kemonix - a company that conducted projects in the countries of the former USSR.

Photo: Voice of America frame video

“I really wanted to do project management, and Kemonix is a prestigious organization in the field of international development in Washington,” says Olya, who moved to Washington in 2012.

Photo: Voice of America frame video

After several attempts to get a job in Kemonix Ole, nevertheless, once was lucky, she found a vacancy that was associated with trips to Ukraine. Over the years, 5 Olga has moved up the career ladder, and now she leads the 2 project: one in Ukraine, the other in Moldova.

“The work is difficult, there is a lot of it, but I really like the company, the atmosphere at work, my colleagues in Washington and Ukraine, and trips to Ukraine,” says Olga.

Photo: Voice of America frame video

As for Paul, he is now studying to pass on car license, and is also studying English. Paul had to go to school as many years ago.

“Having arrived here, Pasha realized that language and a car are the launching pad without which there is nowhere in America,” says Lyudmila.

In Ukraine, Pavel received a higher education at the Physics and Mathematics Department, and then decided to try his hand at the IT industry.

“I completed a programming course and after that I passed the selection process and became a computer game developer,” says Pavel. “I hope to continue my development career in America.”

Photo: Voice of America frame video

“Paul is our joy. He was able to be with my mother, mother-in-law and father-in-law until his last days,” says Lyudmila, holding back tears. “He had no feelings of resentment or envy. He thought about Olya all the time, so that she would feel good.”

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