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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 2019 WWW. UNWLA .ORG 1 3 Second Chances : Notes on Becoming and Belonging by Marianna (Szczawinsky) Crans in collaboration with Halina Szczaw i nsky Growing up, I realized early that not many Ame ri- cans knew much about Ukraine because it was part of the USSR and was therefore viewed as “Rus- sian . ” Because of this, I liv ed almost two dis tinct lives: I was Ukrainian at home and something else outside the home. And even the “Ukrainian at home” was sometimes fuzzy. My parents were both fiercely proud of their ethnic heritage; however, my m other always regretted that she was unable to give me much information on our culture, ethnic crafts, and religious customs. She had grown up in K yi v where the education and culture were “Sovi- etized” and were overlaid with state dogma. Reli- gion was forbidden during her youth, but she learne d to say her prayers while spending sum- mers with her Teta (aunt) in the country where it was still practiced in secret. My f ather was from western Ukraine and experienced rural religion, cultural customs and traditions, but he could not tell me about all t his in much detail as the se tradi- tions, customs and practices were more tradition- ally preserved and passed down by women. What few traditions we did preserve and practice were with my f ather ’ s Teta Pauline, when we would travel with her every year to the Ukrain- ian c hurch on Palm Sunday and honor our Easter obligation of going to confession and receiving communion during Mass. We would re turn a week later to get our Easter b askets blessed. It bears not- ing th at our Easter was not always on the same date as the American Easter because we celebrated by dates designation by the “old calendar” (po staromu). It was only later, while enrolled in a Ro- man Catholic school, th at I learned the difference between the two. In connection to Ukrainian Easter, m y m other taught me how to “write p ysanky , ” our famed Ukrainian Easter eggs, which were con sid- ered an art form and were therefore never eaten. As an artist, I enjoyed the challenge of this distinct art form, drawing wi th wax on a raw egg and then applying, in subsequent steps , the wax and dyes that rendered the traditional patterns and colors . I learned that p ysanky were blessed with the Easter basket and preserved ( like our i cons ) to protect the home. The p ysanky were kept whole and would over time dry out, but it took many years. One im- portant thing I learned about p ysanky is that Ukraine must have a cooler climate than that of our region of the United States because the pysanky created there would never burst from the heat of s ummer ours did in our china cabinet! But the real point of this story is that my Mother and I (and countless others) would not have regained what we lost nor would we be as im- mersed in these and other aspects of our cul tur al heritage as we are now without the UNWLA. For both of us , the UNWLA has rejuvenated and en- hanced a sense of national pride , and it has been a wonde rful journey of exploration and learning. This renaissance started when I was asked to put on a “p ysanky demo ” for an International Day event at my job . The request came from my manager who knew of my heritage. I agreed and then decided it would also be n ice to show some of our other art forms , but we did not have any thing appropriate enough for this purpose . And t hat’s when a friend who lived in our local Ukrainian community introduced us to the local b ranch of the UNWLA , a new branch that had recently be en or- ganized and was headed up by some very dynamic and creative women. Most notabl e of these w ere the branch president, Ma rianna Zajac ( who is now our NATIONAL president) and Lesia Orlan, an art- ist and the branch’s artistic director and cultural historia n , each a dynamo in her own right! It was t hrough these ladies that I was able to borrow a treasure trove of beautiful handmade ethnic items for the exhibit I was planning to assemble. Among the items were intricately detailed regional attire, leather and w oven goods, hand carved and inlaid wood work, pottery, embroidered linens and a massive jar of chicken and goose egg p ysanky ex- pertly crafted by one of the branch members. Needless to say, the Ukrainian display was the star attraction a mong the Internation al Day exhibits . Once we returned the precious items with thank you letters from my job for the display, Mom and I were invited to join the branch , and we en- thusiastically agreed. From that point on we were immersed culturally and supported emotio nally b y these caring and dynamic women. We learned, among other things, that B ranch 95 has always been very active. From the start, branch members were involved in sharing and educating non - Ukrainians about our history and our culture and w ere always engaged in promoting our national identity. Branch members achieved this through local cultural festivals and through community events , such as sponsoring a Ukrainian Immersion
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