I can’t pretend like nothing is happening anymore

Yesterday I had a late-night Zoom call with Arina. She is my wife’s friend and she lives in Ilichevsk, a small town near Odessa. Holding back tears and shaking, she told me the story of how the war started for her.

“I woke up to the sound of shelling. My city was being bombed. My family left the city by car, towards the Polish border, but I decided to stay and help. I don’t really remember that day very much. It’s like a fog to me now,” she said.