Lucy Graesser was born Lyudmila G. Yavorskaya, October 1st, 1956, in Nizhnegorsk, Ukraine where she was raised and attended school. After attending collee in Simferopol, she returned to her hometown, got married and worked in the laboratory at the local juice factory. Lyudmila was married 13 years and had two children, a boy and a girl, before this marriage ended. She spent the next 9 years as a single mother, raising her children and working. At the age of 39, she started to correspond with Bill Grawsser, an American man. Correspondence led to phone calls and a visit by him. After meeting and spending time together, he invited her to America for marriage. Her dream was to be a housewife and take care of her husband, family and home. Living in America was a cultural shock. In all her dreams, she had not imagined that everything would be so different. The first challenge was her name. She started to use Lucy, as no one seemed to be able to pronounce Lyudmila. (She officially changed it to Lucy when she became a citizen). People, food, holidays, clothing and style of life, to name a few things, were all different. She wrote down these first impressions when she came to America and continued this diary for the next 4 years. Now Lucy has written these memoirs in a book to share with all new Russian-speaking immigrants. The book will help other understand the difference between cultures and adjust. From America with Love is written in Russian, for Russians.
