August 22, 2022. Day 180 of the war.
Six months ago people in Ukraine were living their life: working, raising kids, spoiling grandkids, dreaming about vacations, and choosing their paths for the future. My parents were planning to wash windows in the spring and get the whole family together for the summer holidays.
That life is over.
August 23rd is Kharkiv City Day and August 24th is Independence Day in Ukraine. Despite the six months of the war, lost lives, millions of people displaced, and many horrible wounds, both Kharkiv and Ukraine are standing strong. And my parents are still planning to wash those windows and get us all under their roof one day.
August 25, 2022. Day 183 of the war.
We did not talk on the day when Ukraine celebrated Independence Day (August 24th). My parents together with the whole country expected some new horrible acts from russia and unfortunately, many people died on this day when the train station was attacked. Even more distressing was information about Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. This is a fear especially felt because they lived through the Chornobyl disaster. So many conversations on this day were very somber. But my parents jumped at the opportunity to help me find some synonyms in Ukrainian and we had a chance to discuss some questions from the memoirs that my Mom is writing now.
Another attack on Kharkiv and more concerns about the upcoming winter. My parents talked to me about some of their friends who were much older than them. We talked about places in Kharkiv that we remember because of these people and how grateful they are to have that connection between generations throughout their whole life.
Mom got quiet and then said: the beauty of evolution is in the fact that there is no one right answer, there is no ultimate good - all can do something, all can choose something.
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