One can know a lot about a person by looking at what they have done and what they been through. I knew my Grandfather for 27 years and I have had many discussions on various topics about his and my life. Through many of these discussions my Grandfather told many eye opening stories of WWII, people he had met, places he had been and things he had done, all the while being one of the most modest men I have ever met. Most individuals in his situation would find enjoyment in elaborating in certain stories and adding little embellishments to them, but when my Grandfather spoke, you could tell it was nothing but the truth. There were times that you knew he was even trying to not make it sound not as bad as it truly was. He was an incredibly humble man that spoke nothing but truth.
Lately I find myself trying to imagine myself in my Grandfathers shoes during his life and I always end up in mere admiration of him. When I think about who my Grandfather was, several important character traits come to mind; perseverance, commitment and fearlessness.
I don’t know many people, including myself who could continue to keep going after losing their family and never talking to them again, being on a German navy battle ship in the Mediterranean and being placed in a refugee camp, but my Grandfather did. Despite all of these events in his life he wanted more, a better life and he was persistent enough to succeed. In today’s world most people cry poor, poor me, my life is so bad, but to you I say it is nothing but a small bump in the road compared to what my Grandfather went through.
For someone to make it through these events he must also have been fearless. After my Grandfather met my Grandmother they decided to go to a new world they knew nothing about. He wanted better for his new family and he was fearless in his choice to leave. He knew that he was able to endure some of the world’s greatest tragedies and whatever the world was going to throw at him he could handle it. So with the little they had and two small children they made this scary voyage to a foreign land. Feelings of overwhelming fear, anticipation, and confusion must have been present in both my Grandparents minds, but they made it because they were fearless and committed.
When my Grandparents settled down in Crookston Minnesota, my Grandfather worked in the twin cities which were a couple of hundred miles away. He would spend the week down there and drive back on the weekends to spend with the family. A person in this situation has to be so committed to his family. Work long hours in a factory where you know little of the country you are in, all to see your family a couple days a month. Most if not all marriages now days would fall apart in a couple of weeks, but because My Grandfather and Grandmother were committed to each other and their family they made it. They just didn’t make it those first couple of years in a new world; they made it the rest of their lives, more than a half a century.
Examining my Grandfathers history, it makes me proud to call myself a Grandson to Wladimire Fuhol and I hope that I am able to demonstrate a fraction of some of his traits he has taught us all through his history.