Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Calendar
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40
“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ТРАВЕНЬ 2017 WWW.UNWLA.ORG 15 Lessons from Mama Notes from six grateful daughters My mother, in her soft-mannered way, taught me how to deal with adversity. When faced with hardship or disappointment, she always came back with a philosophical Нема злого щоби на добре не вийшло (There’s nothing so bad that it can’t turn out well), a philosophy which she inter- preted to me as God’s way of protecting us from a disaster or to slow us down to wait for a better outcome or teach us a lesson. She would always come back after the fact and point out some posi- tive outcome that came after some difficulty. To this day, it’s an expression that I remember every time I’m disappointed about something. I hear her words, back off, and wait to see what the posi- tive outcome will be. Invariably, I get a confirma- tion that her lesson is still valid. — Tania Szumskyj Blanco My mother was a natural optimist and taught me to look on the bright side of things no matter what was happening. In 1949 she arrived in the United States with her two school-aged daughters in tow, and she was happy to land a job as a cook. With a dictionary and an American cookbook in hand she became an excellent chef. When asked how she, a University of Warsaw graduate with a Master’s Degree, could accept this, her answer was simple: “Every situation in life is a lesson that we must accept and be thankful for. How else would I have learned how to bake an American apple pie and prepare a turkey for Thanksgiving?” — Anna Osinska Krawczuk One important thing I learned from my mother is that it’s OK to forgive those who have harmed you; you can pray for them and wish them well, and you can walk away never to deal with them again. I still struggle with that one, but I am work- ing on it. But her best lesson was her undying love, which she showed every day in a million dif- ferent thoughtful ways. Most striking was how devotedly and single handedly she cared for my father during the last years of his life; she was his advocate and guardian angel. It is my honor to be able to help her now that her health is declining. May I do it half as well as she did. — Marianna Szczawinsky Crans The most valuable lesson my mother taught me is never to be afraid to be different. She taught me to be strong and stand up for myself and my be- liefs even if it means standing alone. She taught me that if I don’t like the road everyone else is taking, I should blaze my own path. My mother always celebrates the idea of being “different.” Instead of making them sound negative, she em- braces differences as beautiful unique qualities that make you stand out as an individual instead of being a sheep blindly following the crowd. Thanks to her, as an adult, I now find myself steering away from popular trends and looking for things that I personally like no matter how unpopular they may be. — Irena Prokopovych Gramiak My mother was a teacher by profession, but when we came to the United States as immigrants in the 1950s, she was happy to find any job she could. She was employed by a hospital, washing fiber- glass curtains by hand. I shuddered at the thought of my mother doing such menial work and asked her, “Aren't you ashamed of working there?” My mother smiled and explained to me that working at any job is honorable. She went on to say, “I know who I am and I respect myself. This job will not take that away from me. I will always value my education and someday you will value yours.” She was right. — Ulana Musij Zinych My mother started medical school shortly before the outbreak of WWII, but her studies were cut short by the Germans and the Soviets who took turns invading Ukraine. Wartime twists and turns brought her to Salzburg, Austria, where she scrubbed floors at a monastery hospital, grueling work she shared with a Lithuanian woman. Tired, depressed, and hopeless, my mother succumbed to a pity party one day, weeping and wailing to her co-worker, “Look at my hands! I’m a medical student.” The Lithuanian woman sneered in dis- gust. Then she lifted her own chapped, red hands and said, “Look at my hands! I’m a concert pia- nist.” My mother told me this story when I needed a lesson in perspective. It worked and still does. — Tamara Stadnychenko Cornelison ____________________________
Page load link
Go to Top
1 
2-3 
4-5 
6-7 
8-9 
10-11 
12-13 
14-15 
16-17 
18-19 
20-21 
22-23 
24-25 
26-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 
34-35 
36-37 
38-39 
40 
