TODAY MARKS THREE YEARS

TODAY MARKS THREE YEARS since Margarita Chesnova and I stepped onto American soil with two cats and two backpacks.

I had so much I wanted to say and write, but my hands feel numb from exhaustion, and I have no strength left.

After these years, I want to express my deepest gratitude for the support we received from Linda and Larry Hufty.

In the first weeks of the war, when we were still in Ukraine and unable to leave, they offered us a spare room in their home in Montverde. Honestly, there was almost no hope that we would ever be able to make use of it.

Skipping over our long journey, I will say this: they surrounded us with care and attention and did not let us fall into despair or sink into depression. I didn’t want to live. All my attention was consumed by Telegram channels, by Arestovych and Zolkin. I clung to any piece of news where the Ukrainian flag appeared. Pain and uncertainty—that’s what lived inside me, and through the gaping hole in my heart, you could almost see the sky.

Thank you for not letting me sink to the bottom and drift away.

I am also grateful to everyone who has entered and left our lives over these three years. Priorities were set, boundaries were drawn, and my path changed more than once.

My best buddy and emotional support, Laska, crossed the rainbow, but in her place came Lavash, loved and spoiled beyond measure.

I grow potatoes and cucumbers, and I bake bread. And life has no intention of stopping.

So don’t you stop either.

Ukraine will prevail—because otherwise, what would be the point…

Yours,Nata Che