"All they needed was just to know that someone out there still cared about them and hadn't forgotten them."
Although this book is short and simple, it is immensely powerful. The author shares the simple truths of the events of the Russian war on Ukraine during 2022 as she saw them, a Ukrainian expat with family stuck in the thick of things. The fear, the pain, the worry and how it all transformed to hope and relief is a powerful reminder. I can truly understand how faith plays such a big role in surviving something like this and offers the solace one needs to keep going, take one more step, live one more day until things do get better.
The message of community is also a very empowering one. No matter how alone we might feel, we aren't. And together we can overcome even the most awful of experiences.
Even if it's short, I had to take this book a little at a time because it really is very impactful. It made me consider a lot of things and hurt my heart often enough to have to take a break. But it is an important book. It's a reminder of how good we, who are living in places of peace, actually have it. It's a reminder that although two and a half years have passed since the events she describes, the war in that region still continues. And it's a reminder that people are still surviving that war today.
I also really appreciate how this author is supporting the most vulnerable by rallying people to support orphans and by donating the proceeds from this book to support that cause. The children orphaned by this war will continue to be victims of it for decades to come, and to know someone cares enough to do something, even a little thing, to help, means so much. They are not alone either, thanks to Sophia Sudak and others like her.
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