It’s heartbreaking to see Ukraine once again ravaged by war

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Daria Lawrynuik and her granddaughter Sarah Lawrynuik: Daria was fiercely proud of her Ukrainian heritage, but strongly opposed to her family visiting the country. (Family photo)
I didn’t grow up with many other Ukrainian Canadians. So as a child, visiting my grandparents in Garden City, I didn’t know what to think of my baba who was a little different from my friends’ grandmothers.
She wore a braid as a crown on her head, topped with a flowery scarf every time we left the house. She insisted that all my dresses have crinolines and that I always wear woolen socks. She hid all the pocket money she had around the house for emergencies. She was storing food.

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Martyrs to hopefully prevent a war the likes of which we cannot imagine if Europe is dragged into another world war. I think even Ukrainians who are living through this invasion understand why now it is too late for western ground troops to stand with Ukraine.
But what breaks my heart is that I am the first to have healed enough of my family to be able to set foot in Ukraine again some 76 years after my baba ran away. For Ukrainians who survive this invasion, I pray that the worst thing they remember is the bombs falling while they sleep in metro stations, but if sanctions and peace talks fail to defuse this conflict, I doubt that is the case. .
And so the cycle of trauma will continue. Not only will an unknown number of Ukrainians die in a war they don’t want, but the struggle to heal from the conflict will be felt for generations.
I think it is a grief that many Canadians can feel and share. Canada has often accepted refugees from conflict – Bosnians, Syrians, Sudanese, Iraqis, Afghans – we are all communities struggling to heal, all praying that once our hearts are healed, our descendants will not have to face to the same pain.
I pray for peace. I pray that this cycle can still be avoided.
Sarah Lawrynuik is a freelance writer.