March 5, at 3:44 pm, original text
“Mom, is Dad still alive?”—my 7-year-old daughter asks me every day. She knows that Michael Schchur is now at war with the enemy who has come to destroy our country.
For the first time, she can't congratulate her dad on his birthday in person and draws postcards for him.
Our children will forever remember Russians as barbarians and invaders who ruined our lives, separated families and killed ordinary people just because we wanted to live our own lives.
She listens to Zelensky's speech with me every night and already knows what a “closed sky” and a “green corridor” are. And she is plotting to assassinate Putin.
Today's events will be depicted in the textbooks that our daughter will use in her studies — there will be many photos of heroes who defended Ukraine. Streets will be named after them. And what do their mothers tell Russian children? What do their fathers protect? Putin's madness? Why are Ukrainian children being killed? I think they have to keep quiet and make up traditional tales about the “sea captains”.
The Russians are a miserable nation that is fleeing its own country using Turkish charters and cannot explain this war to their children. For me and my child, they are all accomplices to Putin's crime who do not know what “nation” and “dignity” are. And it will become a part of our Ukrainian genetic code.
Happy birthday, Michael! Glory to Ukraine!
Ukrainian Text by Anna Babinets, translated into English by Ukrainianvancouver team – Mar 19, 2022