This post will not get many views or reactions.
But I will leave it here anyway. It matters to me.👩🏻🦰
As people, we tend to relate to the experiences we have lived through, and not to the ones we watch as a reality show on TV. 📺
We can switch off an annoying program or change the channel. Unfortunately, the war has no On/Off button attached to it.
One Ukrainian girl living in the US confessed to me that the only person who reached out to her when the russian-Ukrainian war started in February 2022, was her colleague who witnessed the Yugoslavia war (1991-2001).
It figures.
Although as similar as we think our experiences might be, they differ in many respects.
For instance, the way I am getting through the war here is not the same as my best friend with her daughter, who are “putting their lives on hold” as refugees in Poland, waiting until the war ends, so they can come back home.
My mom’s friend is in survival mode. She has been living through the war in paralyzing fear since spring 2022 when her cozy town on the Azov seashore was temporarily occupied by the russian troops. We only know that she is alive ( she must be as she reads our texts, but doesn’t respond).
Her son-in-law is a POW. No one knows whether he is dead or alive.
It’s war, it’s real. And people die every day. 💥
When I go through my daily motions, I sometimes imagine how soldiers are fighting, and someone gets wounded or dying at this very moment when I eat lunch or do laundry.
Their lives are a currency now. 💵
Who is standing at the checkout counter?
That’s the question that keeps me up at night…
The price of our victory is high. But the price of “peace” is much higher.
So there is NO choice, except for defeating the enemy on the battlefield.
🇺🇦🧒👧🏼 The next generation of Ukrainians and our whole country are at stake.
It is tough, but I can’t complain. I am getting a lot of support, a lot of prayers, a lot of “how is your family doing?” from people with different backgrounds reaching out to me online and offline.
I feel not alone because I know that many of you truly support Ukraine in this bloody massacre initiated by the neighbors on our Eastern and Northern borders.
The worst neighbors ever! 🙅🏼♀️
Geographic location has always been a huge source of Ukraine’s complicated history, making our land a desirable prey for various empires. 🗺️
Anyway, my post is not a brief history lesson (at least, not this one 👩🏼🏫).
It is rather a tribute to my injured but alive native land which celebrates its 32nd Independence Day today, on August 24th, 2023. 🇺🇦🥳
Looking back through the last 30 years, I realize that Ukraine didn’t have the fair and square independence it deserved.
🩸💧The lesson is learned—independence is never given. It is always earned. In most cases, it’s earned by the blood and tears of its best people.
Democracy is never guaranteed. It is always fought for. If totalitarian regimes fail to prevail, it is retained.
If not, then you find yourself living in russia or North Korea.
I think it’s vital to never take anything for granted and always differentiate between things that really matter and those which do not.
It’s easier said than done.
🗽As a person who physically lives in the States, but mentally spends hours in Ukraine, I can say that the war freed my spirit.
I could never understand the concept of carpe diem.
I live it now and feel more joy than in my pre-war reality because I clearly see that my life is happening now, not tomorrow. I feel it sharper than ever.
I am definitely more grateful to everyone and everything I have. 🙌🏻
But the biggest shift of all is related to my identity.
When I am asked “Tell me about yourself!” I always start with “ I am Ukrainian”.
I say it proudly. It is the core of my personality.
Happy Birthday, Ukraine! 🎉🎂🇺🇦
I believe in you and I believe in us all 🫶🏻
Ukrainian in Philly 