# My grandmother, she came from Kyiv

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandmother-she-came-from-kyiv/960366>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Tags:** ukraine-invasion\
**Created:** [March 2, 2022, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandmother-she-came-from-kyiv/960366 "2022-03-02T21:29:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2022, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandmother-she-came-from-kyiv/960366/1 "2022-03-02T21:29:32Z")

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My grandmother, she came from Kyiv  
Born there in times of strain and strife  
Before the Wars.

Sustained by faith and table scraps,  
When soldiers came felt she must leave.  
And fled abroad to save her life.

Progenitors -  
In search of freedom. And to build.  
Perhaps.

Arrived with dreams and reprimands.  
An empty suitcase in her hands.  
The obstacles she overcame!

Things change.  
Yet somehow they remain the same.

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**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandmother-she-came-from-kyiv/960366/2 "2022-03-03T03:16:58Z")

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[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p7K3CUd1VU4/hqdefault.jpg "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7K3CUd1VU4)

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandmother-she-came-from-kyiv/960366/3 "2022-03-03T05:52:04Z")

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So, how was she with an AK-47?

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**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandmother-she-came-from-kyiv/960366/4 "2022-03-03T12:05:36Z")

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Probably a little rusty.

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**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandmother-she-came-from-kyiv/960366/5 "2022-03-03T17:27:15Z")

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Good poem.

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**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandmother-she-came-from-kyiv/960366/6 "2022-03-03T17:38:00Z")

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My grandmother came from Odessa. She was eight when she was sent to relatives in Flatbush NY. Her parents did not survive the pogroms. I never knew her. She died in childbirth when my father was eleven.

There’s a poem there too, if you want.

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**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandmother-she-came-from-kyiv/960366/7 "2022-03-03T18:49:27Z")

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> [@Ulfreida](#):
>
> There’s a poem there too, if you want.

There are a whole lot of them; all too many of which will go unwritten.

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**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandmother-she-came-from-kyiv/960366/8 "2022-03-05T01:14:27Z")

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> [@Dr\_Paprika](#):
>
> My grandmother, she came from Kyiv…

… To say “Key-ev” was her _Pet Pyiv._

Sorry, I read the thread title and thought maybe you were starting a limerick.

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**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandmother-she-came-from-kyiv/960366/9 "2022-03-05T02:05:48Z")

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It _was_ meant to rhyme, but it’s not exact.

Tough lady, my grandmother.