Raise
Apr
25
2022
“I raise up my voice-not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.” – Malala Yousafzai
“I raise up my voice-not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.” – Malala Yousafzai
“Love her in love, in labour, and in fight, As if she were a song at heaven’s portal… Love her with all your heart and all your might, And with her glory we shall be immortal.” – From the poem Love Ukraine by Volodymyr Sosiura (1944)
My mother was my stronghold, my everything. I was 20 when the war broke out. My brothers were 12 and 17. We all could have left the country but my father was obliged to stay. My mother wouldn’t leave his side. She packed up for me and my two brothers to save our lives and sent us to stay with friends in the Western part of Hungary. Days pass and we cannot communicate and when they finally call, I want to be with them. We fear for their lives each day.
Grandma was love embodied, though she didn’t have an easy life. She lost her husband very early, soon after the birth of their second child and she had to learn young to bear the challenges of life alone. She was dedicated to her family. She didn’t yearn for fame and glamour. Her grace was the strength she gained by facing questions and difficulties with faith and determination. She would say, “the thought of God turns trouble into ease, sorrow into solace, and toil into utter peace.”
Sisters, best friends, neighbours? Young Ukrainian women photographed some 100 years ago. Graceful costumes, beautiful jewellery, dignified people. Heritage carried on in souls.
“Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo? It’ll be spring soon. And the orchards will be in blossom. And the birds will be nesting in the hazel thicket. And they’ll be sowing the summer barley in the lower fields… and eating the first of the strawberries with cream. Do you remember the taste of strawberries?” – J.R.R. Tolkien
It was summer. It was Barcelona. It was Gaudi, of course🥰 Casa Vicens was built by the 30-year old Gaudi as a summer house for the Vicens family. It was his first masterpiece that kicked off Modernism.
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