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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, СІЧЕНЬ 2015 WWW.UNWLA.ORG 15 BEFORE YOU WERE HERE by Adrianna Rudyk-Odomirok It is hard to imagine what life was like be- fore you were born. What were your parents like when they were kids? How did your grandparents live without today’s technology? Traveling around the world took weeks or months instead of hours. Our elders tell us stories, show us pictures, share with us their favorite books and recipes, and fill our imaginations with the people and life that once were. Although these experiences and people only live in our imaginations, we indulge in these stories and dream of meeting our ancestors, and learn how life came to be the way it is today. One of our elders’ life story began on Oc- tober 13, 1937 in L’viv, Ukraine. Born to Maria and Mykola Prystacky, Ivanka was the youngest of three children. At age 3, she, her parents, and brother Stakh were ripped from their homes by the invading German forces and sent to work on a German farm as forced laborers. (Her older sister Pavlina was spared as she went into hiding with the neighbors.) Living on a farm with strangers was a difficult adjustment. Her only escape was in the evening when her father would tell her stories and sing folk songs about her homeland. Her im- agination was sparked by the history, traditions, and legends about the kniazivstso, kozatstvo , and Sichovi Striltsi . Like the legendary kobzari on their bandury , her father would enchant her with folklore, read from Taras Shevchenko’s Kobzar , and ignite her unwavering passion and patriotism for her native Ukraine. Meanwhile, her practical Mama taught her to seek out opportunities in the most unlikely situations. From her she learned domestic skills such as how to cook, sew, and even barter. When WWII ended, the family found themselves in an American Displaced Persons camp in Bayreuth, Germany. Although the next five years continued to bring hardships, the Ukrainian community within the DP camp found- ed a church, a choir, and even a school where Ivanka learned Polish, German, and English. While there, her father, Mykola, was poisoned by Russian spies for protecting his family from reset- tlement or the so-called “repatriation” in the So- viet Union. In dealing with the loss of her hero, Ivanka promised to honor his love for his home- land and pass his passion down to generations to come. As a widow, Maria and her family were ac- cepted to the Catholic League Relief who spon- sored her voyage to the United States. Settling on 7th Street in New York City among other Ukraini- Ivanka Prystacky-Szkafarowsky an émigrés, the family be- gan a new life filled with freedom, hope, and oppor- tunity. To make herself look older, Ivanka used her mother’s makeup and got a job at Nabisco while attending beauty school classes at night. One Christmas Eve at St. George Ukrainian church, she met Petro Szkafarowsky, and on May 23, 1953, they were married. They were soon blessed with a daughter, Olia. Later came two more chil- dren, Stefan and Lillianna, and eventually the family moved to Yonkers, New York. To help sup- port her family, Ivanka worked as a beautician, sewed custom clothing, embroidered, and after receiving her High School Diploma, worked as an aide at St. John’s hospital. Eventually Ivanka overcame her fear of driving and at 47 obtained her driver’s license. Always the worker-bee, she was present at every church and community event not merely as an audience member but as a contributor. She belonged to St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, the “Sestrynstvo,” ODFFU Women’s Aux- iliary, and “CYMA.” She baked numerous cakes for bake sales, sewed costumes for children’s the- ater productions, and taught/tutored elementary students at the School of Ukrainian Studies. In keeping her promise to her father, Ivanka raised her children in the Ukrainian patri- otic spirit, making sure that they learned the lan- guage, history, traditions, and culture of her homeland. She loved to embroider, make ger- dany , bake korovai and Ukrainian torty . She sewed and embroidered Ukrainian blouses and even created her daughters’ Debutante Ball gowns. Recognizing her children’s talents, Ivanka supported their endeavors. Heeding the advice of Stefan’s 8th grade teacher, Ivanka helped her son pursue a singing career. In 1977, the family donned their finest gowns and tuxedos to attend Stefan’s historic debut, being the youngest solo artist to sing at Carnegie Recital Hall. Her daugh- ter Olia commanded the stage through recitation and Lillia had a flair for painting as well as music and performance theater. In 1992, a year after Ukraine’s proclama- tion of independence, Ivanka, along with her grandchildren, made an emotional trip back to her native Ukraine. Even at the age of 9, her grandson was moved by the tearful reunion of Ivanka and
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