We couldn't have grown up more differently. I was brought up in a small town, surrounded by a huge number of relatives, with numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, my grandparents, as well as a large number of Russian-Germans who moved to the same place, although there are more of them all over the country. For me, it was normality to be embedded in this kind of community and I never really thought much about it until I realised that my normality was not the same for everyone else.

I have had money and property and friends and goodwill, and the former can be taken from me. The latter cannot.

That is a good thing to be able to say. I congratulate you on this. To have confidence in the friends you made, is something not too many people can say of themselves.