Voice of Ukraine

From: Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 711):

Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭111:1‬

I realized today that I haven’t had a spring in Kyiv in two years (we left in February 2022 and returned in August 2023). I wonder if I will have some closure once spring arrives because it looks like flashbacks are the only things I have this February.
For example, I remember how my son was looking forward to a Valentine’s Day party at school in February 2022, but it never happened. They are planning a different party now and I can’t help but wonder if they will enjoy it or if it will get ruined again.
Another silly memory, not even worth mentioning. I was going to get my nails done on February 25, 2022. I never made it to that appointment because we left Kyiv on February 24. Two years later, I decided to cancel my nail appointments in February. I thought, “I don’t want any nail polish now. I will wait until March.” I didn’t realize why I wanted to wait until March until I read a similar account in a book by Iryna Slavinska – how many women remembered their canceled nail appointments in February 2022 and how many of them stopped wearing nail polish since then. This may be an embarrassing story that’s too trivial to share, yet it shows how the traumatic events of 2022 keep haunting us today, even though I don’t think anything can catch us off guard now.

As the gloomy memories keep re-traumatizing us, it’s so easy to immerse ourselves in this dreary hopelessness. To drown there, swallowed up by self-pity, and let the world disappear. Fortunately, God won’t let us do it. He will keep reaching out to us through His angels who walk this earth. They will reach out to us through a Facebook message, a deep conversation in a hallway, or a care package that will heal your wounded soul. I was blessed with all of those last week.
Tonight, as I was sipping fruit tea sent by a wonderful and caring friend, I realized that the scent of cinnamon seemed to have wiped away my sadness. No, it didn’t make me forget the hard stuff, but it reminded me that love always wins.