Inspired by Resiliency
Ukrainian family bond
My great grandmother Anastasia Shapka, born in Ukraine in 1888, has been on my mind a lot lately. Although I didn’t have the chance to meet her, as she passed away before I was born, I’ve always felt a strong connection to her.
She came to Canada as a young immigrant and bride-to-be, and left behind everything she knew to start her new life abroad. She raised eight children, and if you had the pleasure of meeting any of those eight wonderful children of hers, you would understand what an amazing woman she must have been.
I was gifted a beaded necklace that she handmade and was told stories about how she assembled them in her later years. Her hands were riddled with arthritis, and yet she still sat there patiently making several of these beaded necklaces. I’ve heard stories of how her hands ached, and how she would rub them together when they were hurting and say: “Bozhe, Bozhe” (Oh my gosh).
I remember my grandmother Aldia, her daughter in law, marvelling over how hard my great grandmother worked. This amazed me because my grandma was the hardest worker I knew, and so I just couldn’t imagine her being topped. Anastasia would also wake up in the wee hours of the morning to butcher a bird and have it on the table, ready for supper that evening. She was always working to take care of those around her. She would always tell her daughters that “If you always just have a pot of potatoes boiled, it’s easy to make a meal for anyone who stops by.”
There are so many stories about how kind she was, how much she loved her family, and how she always had small gifts for her grandchildren and great grandchildren. But most of all, I was told about how much strength and courage she possessed.
I have reflected on that a lot lately, noticing these same values in the people who are now fighting for their lives and freedom in great grandmother’s homeland of Ukraine. I can’t begin to imagine what they are going through, but I believe in their strength, courage and resilience. ◼