I nearly married a Russian girl when I was young. It was about a year before the Communist regime ended and she was studying here and was scared to go back. I told her I'd marry her so she could stay. She ended up leaving becaue she was worried about what they'd do to her family in retribution if she didn't return.
I still remember her smile, her laugh, and her peculiarly Russian hand knitted underwear.
I was being flippant, but your journey seems more serious. Loss of a favored can be rough.
But again, flippancy ...Hand Knit? Really? I mean wow, did you not show her a Walmart, Target, Miejer, Kohl's, or twenty others
to list if I wasn't so tired of typing?