I so admired the freedom of the west – people could worship in peace, attend the university of their choice, travel wherever they wanted if they could afford to, police were there to protect and serve the locals, food was cheap, grocery stores were full, families were able to buy a home with a picket fence and pay it off before they retired, truth, hard work, and honor were qualities to be admired, the press was generally objective and covered the facts domestically and internationally, families raised their children to be patriotic citizens, and children respected their parents, teachers, elders, authority, and the law. I could not wait to escape the oppressive communism of the Iron Curtain even though it meant leaving behind everything I’ve ever known and everybody I’ve ever loved. It did not matter that my new countrymen would see me as an inconvenient and tolerated member of the underclass, “Euro-trash” to be exact. If we came from Eastern Europe, we were all worthless gypsies or spies at best. But I knew deep down, if I was given the opportunity, I would prove that I was the best and the brightest.

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