Thread by @MaximEristavi

my grandma is about to celebrate her 92th birthday in her apartment hearing russian bombs falling closer and closer. she is too frail to leave. she survived hitler and his invaders setting her house on fire and shooting her point blank as 12yo teenager. she is not scared

i talk to her every day. every time she ends up comforting me, despite that i am not the one in mortal danger. it breaks my heart over and over again. “don’t worry. i outlived hitler. i’ll live to the day when they hang putin, too” — that’s how we end every conversation

my grandma taught me how to read and write. during dark poverty days of 1990s she would shelter me when my parents were struggling to provide enough food even for themselves. being head nurse at kids hospital, she always had energy reserved for me even after most grueling shifts

growing up i absorbed this tenacity of a survivor from my grandma. from her stories, from the way she carried on despite the horror endured. even decades later this resilience is so strong that she keeps comforting others despite that we all know she is the one most vulnerable

i think of her these days when i am at the lowest desperation point (happens multiple times a day). i simply cannot betray or disappoint her. i can’t give up. skies over ukraine must be closed so she, and millions like her, have a chance to live another day
#NoFlyZoneOverUkraine