In today's chat, Tommy sits down with his wife, Cristina, and his new second-cousins, Georgi and Florin Stancu, to share their incredible journey. Born, raised, and built lives in Bucharest, Romania, Cristina translates between Tommy and his new family to discuss their decision to leave Romania in search of better opportunities and a better for life for their daughter, Alyssa. Now living in Dachau, Bayern, Germany for the past seven years, Georgi and Florin reflect upon some of the challenges they endured not only living under Marxist-Leninist one-party Communist rule prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, but of the challenges they faced in a new democratic system after the fall of the Berlin Wall. As you'll find out, political corruption and failing public institutions persisted for years to come. New challenges emerge in face of old ones. While the move to Dachau brought new opportunities, it brought new uncertainty as well: finding new jobs, not speaking the local language, and navigating Germany's intensely admin-oriented public services made for a daunting set of new problems. And yet, the Stancus are an incredibly down-to-earth, grounded, passionate, fun-loving, and in-the-moment family. Their story is uplifting, precisely because of their perseverance and their love for one another's well being. Money and things are not everything - connections are; a particularly timely and sobering point of reflection as we all navigate COVID-19 together in April 2020. 

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