History Lessons with Grandpa

From a very young age I hav always been told by my grandpa how fortunate I am and how lucky I have it.  I rememeber from a very young age the stories my grandfather would tell me and my cousins of how he escaped from the russians and walked on FOOT for five months to escape the terrible reality of World War II.  He was filled with stories; each time we would see him we would learn something new of his struggle to America or the good times he had growing up in his culture.  It gave me and my family a sense of identity that we come from a long line of determined people who never gave up.  One story inparticular I remember my grandpa  or Vanessa we call him in Estonian.  He would tell us of his five month walk away from his home and everything he knew in order to get away from the way and the horrors of the russian army.  On their way they were attacked by Russians and his brother was taken to join the Russian army.  His brother did so in order not to be killed.  SOMEHOW they were able to come in contact (now this is a miracle and you can really appreciate this because this was long before texting and cell phones and he internet!) and his mother mailed or sent him some civilian clothes so he could put them on and escape without notice!  Later on after a couple months went by his brother (who had escaped) met up with some people and told of how he hasnt seen his family in months and has no idea of whether or not they are alive.  The people he talked to had seen my grandpa before and told him that they may be in town! Well sure enough they were and they finally found eachother!  It was a very heartwarming story.