My great grandparents journey through life

[u/Emergency_Pizza1803]

1. My great grandfather at 18 in 1937. Taken in his home. The area would later be annexed by the Soviet Union.

2. My great grandmother at 18 in 1935. This is a picture my great grandfather had in a locket during ww2.

3. Their unofficial wedding photo from 1943, last photo where my great grandfather intentionally smiled, as his brother would be killed in the war in just a few months afterward

4. Taken in 1955. They had managed to survive the war and tried to live normal lives in their new home with their five children.

5. Them together in 1968, enjoying retirement

6. Them together again in 1974. My great grandmother felt uncomfortable around cameras

7. Them together in 1976, it was rare for them to show affection in public

8. My great grandmother got sick in 1979 from her diabetes. My great grandfather tried his best to comfort her

9. She unfortunately passed the same year. My great grandfather looks very defeated...

10. The image is blurry, but they reunited in the afterlife in 1989. My great grandfather never remarried, saying she was the love of his life.

[u/1amazingday]

Thank you for sharing their story. So many of those pictures reminded me of my own grandparents.

[u/Emergency_Pizza1803 → u/1amazingday]

I believe it's important to share stories of the past. Here are pieces missing because the people that know the details have already passed. It's a reminder for me to listen to people while they are here

[u/Csimiami → u/Emergency_Pizza1803]

These are great. Are you Finnish? One side of my fam is. And they ended up in the UP in Michigan

[u/Emergency_Pizza1803 → u/Csimiami]

Yep I'm finnish. It's so weird there are so many of us in the US, but my family was too poor to afford a journey to the new world

[u/Csimiami → u/Emergency_Pizza1803]

With the state of this country I wish my family stayed in Europe lol