Imagine, if you will, growing up in a time and place much like the illustrations you’d see in a joyful, children’s storybook. A place where kids can simply be kids and parents can live without fearing for their children’s safety. Sound too good to be true, you say? Not so fast, I say! You see, the time was three decades ago, the place was Perzomaisk, Ukraine, and the folks were the Izoita family, recalled Dan Izoita. “I was born in Ukraine in 1985, and Perzomaisk was about two hours from Odesa. Me, my three brothers and sister grew up there. “We had nothing to worry about growing up. During the summers, we were just wild kids. We’d get up in the morning, eat a little breakfast, and go out barefoot. We’d eat off the trees, swim in the lake, go fishing, hang out with friends, and just come home when it was dark.” Life was good, but by 1998, destiny was knocking at the family’s door, and the decision was made to leave their beloved Ukraine for distant shores, continued Dan. “The biggest reasons why we moved to America, and it was my parent’s decision, is because they knew that in America there was freedom of religion and speech, and the opportunity to be successful in any business. We also had relatives there, and they gave us an invitation to stay at their house, so my parents said, ‘let’s do it!’ "And without even selling our house, we packed up what we could, and with each of us carrying two suitcases and the few hundred bucks in dad’s pocket, we left for America.”