Leaving The Home They Love

 As I watch the horrific scenes of families leaving loved ones including, husbands, partners and sons behind as they load themselves on trains I shutter with fear.  My Dad was a History teacher and always shared the importance of understanding our past before we can change our future. As a child, I never truly appreciated his total dedication to history and thought he needed to get with "modern times".  I now understand the urgency of his message. History does repeat itself and we are witnessing this real time.

My maternal grandmother and her parents left Ukraine to emigrate to the United States during the times of the pogroms sometime between 1912-1920.  I recently came across this photograph from their immigration papers. 

Other relatives on all sides of the family and members of their communities met their fates and either boarded on trains to a more horrific fate or also made their way to freedom.  As a child, I always believed this was history and not something I would see again during my lifetime.

How can the images and darkness we see created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine be real? How can this happen after the lessons learned after the eras of Stalin, WWI, and WWII? How can someone recklessly want to destroy the world as we know it for his own narrative.  It is with pride that I watch the brave Ukrainians standing up to defend their country and freedom.  

Growing up in the United States we never felt the damage done during the wars of the 20th century.  Most European peoples bore witness to the destruction of their families and homes and it is commendable to see the stepping up of help for the refugees escaping Ukraine.  We all need to do our share.

As the producer of a Temple production of Fiddler on the Roof in 2015, I related to the history and message of my ancestors leaving a fictional Anatevka and coming to the New World.  This show has always been taught to symbolize the journey to freedom for displaced communities.  It was powerful to me since I would reflect on the journey my grandparents took. 

I have a different feeling now, knowing this was my ancestral home I am saddened every time I turn on the news.  I feel a deep connection to Ukraine and hope to visit it someday when there is hopefully a peaceful end to this war.

WCVB Boston has put together a list of organization donation sites to help Ukraine.  Click here. History does repeat itself. We hear of movements to whitewash history in our own country.  We need to face our past to know how to better our future.  If we do not understand what happened from horrific actions, how can we progress to make the world a better place. We need to learn from our past. Our contemporaries are forcibly taking this fearful journey which no idea where their next train stop will be.  Imagine having to leave the home and family you love behind you.  

Wendy is a Realtor and Freelance writer residing on Cape Cod. She enjoys networking and writing to connect her ideas and curiosities with people she meets.  Her first book, Coffee Connections: Finding Common Ground Through My Daily Brew was published last fall. She welcomes your comments.  

A Good Book, A Good Brew, My Love of Reading and a Podcast

I grew up in a house of books.  My Mom loved to read novels and human interest memoirs.  My Dad loved history and had a vast collection of non-fiction and reference type books in our home.  We were raised to respect books as our best friend.

We were taught to never bend a page or write in the margin.   My Dad would never allow us to move a book from his library bookshelf unless it was put back in the exact spot and measured to be an inch away from the ledge in perfect alignment with the other books.   It was culture shock when I started college and saw my fellow classmates highlighting text books.  

As children, my Mom would regularly bring us to the public library to take out children's books.   She was a teacher and thus we were encouraged to read beyond our years.  Once I learned to read I was eager to jump ahead a few grades in my reading selections.  By the end of first grade I often challenged my teachers to allow me to go to a more advanced section of the school library (4th grade level books).  

As I progressed through the years I was reading adult fiction and beyond by junior high. My Dad said I gravitated towards the "trash" books as I loved Harold Robbins and Sydney Sheldon.  One favorite that stands out is "A Stone for Danny Fisher" by Harold Robbins.

I didn't enjoy non-fiction at that age because I associated this with reading text books or the stress of my Dad's book placement perfection. I wanted to be free to choose books that I wanted to read and perhaps this limited my progression in enjoying fine literature and history while I progressed through high school and college.  At that stage in life this book genre was work for me.  I wanted to find myself as I read.

Growing into adulthood, however, I have come to expand my reading interests.  Seeing more of the world as an adult has increased my curiosity to a wider range of cultures and peoples.  I have come to learn that non-fiction and historic novels teach me more about the real world and have helped to expand my horizons beyond where I physically live.  My book wishlist has grown to include many  historic novels, memoirs and personal development books.  

I now acknowledge the deep influences my parents have had on my life and my reading habits and am excited to share more about this on a new podcast where I am the guest speaker. 

I hope you will enjoy listening to this as much as I do.   Please let me know and perhaps we can meet at Starbucks for coffee sometime to discuss the podcast and recent books we have read.  

Wendy is a Realtor at Coldwell Banker Needham. In her free time she enjoys reading, traveling, walking her dog and theater.  She is often reading at her local Starbucks in Needham or Mashpee Commons during the summer months.