We are what we know" I screamed incoherently in fear and frustration at my predicament," (Arthur 5), when suddenly the word death became a morbid reality. Death is a disgusting and sad word that hits people when they least expect it. When my grandmother passed into eternity a few days ago, I realized that one of the four ties I had to my cultural background had disappeared. Even though one of the connections has been severed, my cultural beliefs, knowledge, and lineage are clear and important to me. Even though she is gone now, she taught me and left me with the knowledge of who I am. Through constant celebration of cultural customs, I know my heritage and identity well. One could only imagine a more beautiful place than where my family and I come from. With blue skies and golden wheat growing farther than the human eye can see, Ukraine is known as the breadbasket of Europe. It extends from the Carpathian Mountains in the west to the Caucasus Mountains in the east, just north of the Black Sea. Throughout history many Europeans and Asians have invaded Ukraine. They wanted to control its rich agricultural lands and mineral resources. Ukraine has weathered border disputes with other surrounding Slavic countries. Since 1700, Ukrainians belonged to Tsarist Russia, while western Ukraine was part of the Austrian Empire. In 1917, Tsarist Russia fell and Ukrainians attempted to found their own nation. During World War I, Ukraine became the battlefield of the Poles who together fought the Bolsheviks. Ukraine was also the battlefield of World War II, when Ukraine fell into the hands of Soviet control. It was during that time that my grandparents and great-grandparents were forced to leave everything behind and flee their burning homes and villages with only their clothes on their backs. Landing in a refugee camp in Germany in 1949, they settled there with other Ukrainian families while waiting for their host families to sponsor their trip to America, the homeland of the free. They may have only had a few possessions with them, but when our family landed on a Mennonite farm in Ohio, they brought with them their ethnic heritage, culture, and identity. America was a land that accepted all ethnic people, giving immigrants the opportunity to make a better life. My grandfather, who was a scholar, was not of much help on the farm.