The Fog of War, Moms graduate, Sofia's father, and Blair Academy

Our kitchen windows

As I write this, I am gazing out at a set of three kitchen windows in our second floor apartment.  My desk is nearly level with the window sill. It’s winter, not a leaf in sight. The branches of a gnarly tree 10 yards from our window are chaotic, limbs curling out of broken stubs, and wounds on the side of the trunk, like they belong to another species. These branches divide and divide into twigs, creating a web I see through in winter, while in the summer it becomes a wall of leaves.

The view is the roofs of buildings for about 200 yards. That’s the limit of visibility. Past that, the sky, and everything out there is a gray-white fog. I come to the window and look down and a little left. One bright blue and yellow Ukrainian flag flies at the top of a metal pole. The flag is whipping in the cold, wet breeze.

What I know and what Ukraine seems to know is often colorless and limited by fog. It’s not possible to see far enough into the future. There are few “bright spots.” We live day to day in a fog of war. But there is that dauntless flag doing what flags do in the face of all adversity. The people we help, the people of Ukraine don’t need only sympathy. They need someone to say, “You can do it. You are dauntless, you are unstoppable.”

Here are two unstoppable moms. Graduates with Master's degrees in Psychology. They started classes two years ago. We have three more scheduled to graduate.

Sofia Minova (Sonja), pictured above is a candidate for Blair Academy in New Jersey. 

Her father was killed in a vehicle accident in the city of Nikolaev on January 27. He was with his vehicle on the side of the road when it was struck by a tractor-trailer rig. Sonja has a younger brother and her mother. She is a strong and remarkable young lady. When I asked her how she is doing, she replied that even as a young child, she thought about the possible loss of her parents and tried to prepare herself for that. I can't remember ever thinking about that as a young person.

She will continue with her application to Blair. 

grace and peace,

Robert and Oli