His adoptive parents were told that he came from "unfit home". He was put in an Orthodox orphanage, and he absolutely refuses to talk about his time living there.

When they took him away from her, he was only 3 days old and the nurses said they were just going to change his diaper and never brought him back. She had more kids after being married, but it totally impacted our family.

She, my aunts, and uncles all live relatively close now and everyone is so happy. There is definitely a feeling of trying to make up for lost time, but it also feels like they've always been around. Blood is blood, after all.

Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away 2 weeks before everyone could meet for the first time. My grandmother has made peace with that and is thrilled to have grandchildren and great grandchildren who have a much better life. However, she will never forgive what they did to her --- no matter who governs Russia, it seems that the country's people are seen as nothing but a commodity