Awakened to the light of the morning outside, am finding it easier to wake and rise out of bed. My body is finally adjusting to the 10-hour time differential between Arizona and Ukraine.

Today and tomorrow are planned that we travel to the country town of Sambir, where my father spend some of his youth. Will also meet my father's sister's, Olha and Daria. And also my cousin George, who is a priest. George (Olha's son) is married, and has 3 children.

Busy bustling around, preparing my travel bag, Hannah's mom is actively preparing a meal for an army. Hannah joins us in the kitchen, as we discuss yesterday's events. Hannah makes her infamous coffee for me, and mom still wonders why I do not eat very much. She tells Hannah that I will get sick if I do not eat more. Laughing, and then respond to mom that my "army" will not go hungry, and we will be fine, because we are in good "nutritional hands" with her cooking.

Max arrives at 8 AM as we head back to Ariadna's apartment. Decide at this time to take a shower because Ariadna is more fortunate to have hot water in the summer months. After dressing Ariadna has prepared more food to eat before our 30-mile journey to Sambir, which it seems to people in Ukraine is quite a long distance on the rough roads. If only they knew of how far we travel in the USA, via interstate roads and such. After eating a few bites of food, we prepare to depart, now Ariadna is worried that I do not eat so much, but, do not have the heart to tell her that we had eaten about 2 hours before.

So we depart for Sambir, Max, Ariadna, myself, and my ever-dependent interpreter (babysitter) Hannah. Have a bit of uneasiness inside me as we drive through the countryside, am anticipating seeing my aunt for the first time ever. As we drive, notice many old farms, the old farm equipment, etc. Also notice that many people are walking, mostly to the bus stops along the roadside. It is more apparent that people use the public transportation to get around, even so in the countryside. The fields are green with crops; most of the highway is lined with dense number of trees. Also notice many Ukrainian Orthodox churches that seem to stand out because of their dome architecture.

In about an hour's time, we finally arrive in Sambir, a town of maybe 20,000 people. As we pass through the streets, am once again thinking that I am in a 75-year time capsule observing the old buildings, the old homes, and the way the people are dressed. Slowly we make our way through the narrow side streets, and the last turn we make we stop in front of an old bungalow home, which is my Aunt Olha. As we exit the car, I can remember the still and quiet of the immediate area. As we approach the main door, which is located towards the rear of the home, I see for the first time my father's sister. WOW! 58 years of no visual communication with my relatives in Ukraine, or since my aunt had seen my father when he left in 1943. Felt as if I was in a dream, climbing the steps and give my Aunt Olha a hug. Olha eyes are red with emotion and can tell she has been crying for quite a while. Ariadna and Hannah are also getting emotional as we enter Olha's home.

Olha's home is what one would expect that a typical 74-year-old widow would have. It's a 4-room home with one bathroom. Would guess that the house was 90+ years old. As we enter into the kitchen/dining room, much to my surprise and my suspicions, Olha prepared something for us to eat; the dining room table is almost full. So........... 9 AM was breakfast at Hannah's, 11 AM was lunch at Ariadna's, now its close to 1 PM and Olga is feeding us again. I wonder if I will be able to fit in the airplane seats when upon leaving in 2 days.

As we sit at the table, Olha is very busy making sure we have either hot tea or coffee, and is worried because I do not each much (yep, the pattern is still holding true). My Aunt Olha makes one of her first comments to Hannah to translate to me. Hannah is seemingly about to burst into tears, Ariadna is now crying, Max is very somber, as Hannah translates Olha's words. Olha said: "I prayed for my brother return everyday since he left us in 58 years ago in 1943, and now God has returned my brother to me in the form of his son". WOW!! Need I say more? What a moment......

About 5 minutes later, my Aunt has slowed down on the tears, as she brings out pictures of herself, her sister, and my father in their youth. WOW, Olha such a very pretty woman, and also her sister. WOW! What a knockout. For the next two hours Olha shares with me many memorable moments during of her, her sister Daria, and my father's youth, until the days my father left for Germany, and eventually for the USA. Had to chuckle when Olha made the comment that my father was an excellent student with a burning desire to learn and learn and learn, but it seemed his studies went to the wayside as soon as he was in his late teens and started studying the girls more than the books. Everyone was laughing so hard with all the stories Olha was telling.

Well 2 hours have passed, and now we had made plans to visit my cousin George. George is Olha's son; Ariadna is also Olha's daughter. Cousin George is a priest, is married and has three children. Cousin George lives about 3 miles from Olha's home. And as we wind through the narrow streets, it is a reminder from my youth where I grew up, in the town of St. Joseph Missouri, with all the old homes, the ever-present gardens in each yard, and the old streets and old buildings.

We arrive at George's home, and are greeted by George's wife, her daughter Olya, and one of their sons Andriy. A quite cozy home of maybe 6 rooms, as we enter, can see the general interior design reflects that a priest lives here, and marvel at all the religious icons, pictures etc. Everyone is warm and friendly as we are invited into the main dining room, and not too much to my surprise, there is a HUGE FEAST on the dining room table for all, the BIGGEST FEAST OF ALL. WOW, was thinking.....counting.... this would be the 4th time in 8 hours that we will be eating. And of course the Cognac and the carbonated mineral water are free flowing as we toast to each other. So as the next two hours came, Cousin George's wife must have spent all morning and some of the previous day preparing such a feast. There were about 9 or 10 courses to this meal. Actually think she cooked more than Ariadna. Well as you might guess everyone was worried why I did not eat and drink so much.

Having to excuse myself, needing to use the restroom, and was led outdoors to a single car garage that was converted to be a bathroom and storage area. Was just thankful that the time spent in the bathroom was in June, and not in January. And to think that I had actually thought about visiting this past January. Brrrrrrrrrr how much we take for granted, the simple necessities of life.

Upon entering Cousin Georges home again, his daughter was playing the piano, and at 16 years old, she was a concert quality pianist. Her talent was really amazing. Both of George's sons are working in Lviv as EMT technicians. Then as we sat around the family room, encouraged everyone to feel free to ask any questions of me, my family, and life in the United States. Most of the questions were the same that Max, Ariadna, Nazar, and Hannah had asked of me. The most common ones were: How come did we need a 4-bedroom home with so many extra rooms? Are all people in the USA as bad as they see in the local news reports and newspapers? What kind of, and how many cars do we own and drive. My response was that the 4 bedroom is standard equipment in the USA, and that 99% of the people in the USA are really good people, they should not judge by what they see on the news, because news mainly is only bad news, seldom ever good news, and typically 2 or even 3 cars per family.

Then the most shocking question came from old Auntie Olha, she asked me why we voted such a terrible man, George Bush, in as president, and also how the Monica Lewinsky saga was going. Everyone ROARED with laughter, and I was stumped for a few seconds to find an answer. My answer was that I voted a write in vote for Jesse Ventura, and did not follow the story on the Monica Lewinsky saga. We were rolling with laughter as Auntie Olha came to life and really got excited over the political issues. It was simply too funny.

As the evening approached 8 PM, George finally arrived from his parish duties, and we greeted each other with big hugs. Was really glad to meet him for the first time ever. We chatted via Hannah's interpretational skills. Later we passed out pictures to each other to keep.

Soon afterwards, we departed from Cousin George's home. Everyone said his or her goodbyes. Reflecting back, and remembering that George and his family was very nice people; just the same as most of the people I had met during my visit to Lviv. Upon arriving back to Aunt Olha's home to spend the night, well..... You can only guess, Auntie Olha decides that we should have some hot tea and eat some snacks...........this time I politely denied and more nourishment and said that since it was close to 10 PM, would prefer to prepare for sleep, as we had big plans for the next day.