Welcome Back to That Alaskan Ginger!

Final months in Europe and the Transition to America

&

(Living in Poland during The War on Ukraine)

Hello! Welcome back to this blog! Thank you so much for visiting. I had a lot of you who were very complimentary of my writing while we were in Poland (sorry for my terrible grammar, but it’s the voice that counts-lol), and I just want to say thank you. I would really like to keep this up, and start using this platform to continue to share our life, military happenings, music, home life, etc. It has been an interesting ride being married to someone in the military. Although I absolutely love it and wouldn’t change it for the world, finding my place in all of this can sometimes get frustrating. Sometimes I feel like an absolute ragdoll being tossed in and out of different situations. I would love to have something that I can “call my own” and in an ideal world, if I’m being completely candid, turn it into something profitable. Due to the flux nature of Alexis’ work, I kind of have to be at everyone’s disposal and having a 9-5 just isn’t very realistic. I really would like to find my own rhythm that can go with me from location to location, so here we are, and thank you for listening.

Now, for those of you who followed our journey in Poland, it has been a while since I last updated. I won’t try and share all the details from February to now (goodness gracious), but I will try and give some highlights, and I also wanted to share what it was like to be in Poland during the start of the War on Ukraine.

Pretty much all of you who look at this blog also follow me on Facebook so you are likely up to date with our life. There is so much to cover and the past few months have, at times, felt like an eternity. For those that don’t know, we are all back stateside and currently settling into our journey as a prospective Military Chaplain family. We are living in a wonderful lake house in Pennsylvania while Alexis attends St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (STOTS). We have an adorable home that needed a little attention upon arrival, but we are so grateful for the wonderful space and as I sit and type this, I am looking out our large wall of windows facing the lake; pretty picturesque. Otis is attending a delightful school called Graceridge Christian, and he is loving it, and so are we. It seems like the perfect fit, plus, the 1.5-minute drive is a win.

I so appreciate all those of you that enjoy following along with our happenings and LOVED getting to spend time together this summer. I am grateful to have a strong community of support in the beautiful (although, too cold) state that I was born and raised. I am going to miss our dance parties something fierce, so please share photos! I would love to see. 😊

Anyway, I wanted to share a little about our time in Poland at the start of the war. I suppose the best place to start is the last week of February, 2022. We had planned a trip to London for about a week, and were fortunate to be able to make those plans happen as Alexis had just returned from a relocation in southeast Poland for orders that we are all now well aware of…and the possibility of him having to return to said location was rather high. Mid trip Putin decided to unleash godless bloodshed on Ukraine.

On February 24th Alexis and I watched the news with tears in our eyes and in that moment, it sunk in… this is happening. We soon received phone calls from family members and my Facebook inbox flooded with messages: “Are you guys okay?” “Will you be coming home?” “Be safe, kiddo…” We did our best to downplay the situation in terms of Poland was going to be okay, and WE were going to be okay. While chaos ensued just across the border, we had and still have confidence in our NATO alliances and knew that Poland was going to remain safe for us. With that being, we had no idea what we were walking into when we got back home to Poznan.

Worried shuffling at Otis’ school amongst parents quickly began, and everyone was watching the moves of all the military families as a gage for what they should be doing next. As a military spouse there is a lot I never know, and the stuff I do know, I can’t share, so me and the other two moms did our best to comfort the families in our circle and assure them we would be alright. However, I will be honest and say, I didn’t know if we were going to be okay. There was a short period of time where I was considering going back stateside. It felt like that debate went on for weeks in my head, but as I look back on all the photos and timeline of events, it just reminds me how quickly everything happened. Meanwhile, Alexis was sent back down to the Southeast, and his work there was innumerable. He was awarded 3 awards during his time in Poland, and one of those included a Red Cross Real Heroes Award. Needless to say, I am a proud wifey.

I have prayed to God for many things, of course, but in my time in Poland I prayed often for something to present itself that would give me meaning and help others… what unfolded in the coming weeks was a bit above and beyond and will probably go down as one of my most blessed gifts I have ever been able to receive. I cry about it often when I am in the stillness of my thoughts… and sometimes when I am talking about things completely unrelated… sorry to those who have been on the receiving end of my unprovoked tears. Haha!

Our church in Poznan was part of the Polish Autocephalic Orthodox Church, and although there was a smattering of Polish parishioners, the majority were Ukrainian… naturally, our church decided to do a drive to support our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ suffering from inhumane attacks. We raised funds and brought donations to the church to disperse to shelters and resource sites around our area of Poznan. My immediate family were some of the first ones to reach out to me about supporting those in need. I had received inquiries from friends through social media, but I wasn’t really sure how people could help, so I ensured others that if an opportunity arose, I would inform them. However, my stubborn and big-hearted sister-in-law, Maria, just wouldn’t take no for an answer (it must be the Greek and Italian in her) 😉 so I finally said, “Well, you could send me money, and I could go buy stuff for donations and bring them to the church.” That is the first donation that would ignite a flame of receiving 30 thousand dollars of funds to support the Ukrainian people.

The weeks continued to fly by, and not fly by, and everything felt incredibly surreal. Gatherings with friends were consumed by conversations of war, the inhumanity of it all, and what might lie ahead for our future. As people tried to make sense of it, Poland, being the incredible country that it is, buckled up for some serious acts of compassion. Posters, billboards, advertisements, vehicles, public transit, and even personal apparel quickly began to dawn images of support for Ukraine, all the while Ukrainian flags flew from every corner. Poland was one of the first countries and largest areas of support for the refugees fleeing from Ukraine. Many other countries followed suit and played major roles as well. God bless them all! I have never in my life personally experienced such a display of compassion, generosity, and fortitude.

The train depot was one of the first places to soak up volunteers as we did our best to lovingly welcome broken and hurt people. The arenas around town turned into shelters almost overnight. One of the largest being located at the end of our street some 500 feet away. People donated personal belongings, food, and money with no questions asked, and I’m not talking a little. People gave so freely of their time, money, and energy. There were individuals at the train depot that volunteered for hours on end after working a full day at their regular jobs, and employers gave volunteers extra time off to support the efforts of those in need.

Soon, we realized as Americans in Poland, we could be doing so much more. Through the Grace of God, and God alone, lovely human beings began asking me if they could send me money to support the Ukrainian people. Although apprehensive to handle others money, I realized this is what I had been praying for. I thought to myself, "If you go home, you will have quit, and you have an opportunity here that can help a lot of people." Due to the currency exchange, the US dollar carries about 4 times the buying power in Poland, so with that, I got my Venmo up and running, and donations began to flood in.

As many of you already know, we were able to do so much with the 30,000 dollars we received… that’s right, you all are INCREDIBLE!!! 30,000 DOLLARS!! Never in my wildest dream would I have thought that a family donation could have turned into this kind of money. We raised money from Alaska to Kentucky, New York, and many places in between. With that money we purchased strollers, toiletries, food, clothes, beds, apartment furnishings, and partnered with local business and shelters to disperse of supplies, food, and even provide 14 sets of bunkbeds to a local women and children’s shelter. The close of our efforts (which I’ll elaborate on) finished with donating 19 suitcases to the Arena Shelter as they helped families transition out and into apartments.

As we concluded the above-mentioned operations, we found ourselves thrust into April. My parents came to visit us during Holy Week and to spend Pascha with us. While they were with us, we went on a big shopping haul where we gathered food, shoes, gifts for Pascha baskets, and suitcases. Our final, or so we thought, delivery was on Holy Thursday to the shelter where we found children joyfully playing with bubbles and chalk out on the pavement. We ended our day with full hearts and beautiful music at the church we attended, St. Nicholas. On Monday, I was set to do a podcast with a local media institute in Anchorage, AK: ATMI. As I prepared for that interview, I was crunching the numbers on my extensively detailed Excel sheet where I had been keeping track of all our spending and I realized that with all the discounts the businesses had given us, my projected spending was off and there was one final donation that had not been accounted for. We were left with 1,000 dollars left to spend! I thought to myself, "What am I going to do?!" They were trying to shut down the shelter by our house, and we were taking off the next day to Milan with my parents. My goal had been to have all the money spent before we left, because when we returned from vacation, we were going to have to pack up and move back stateside.

So off to Italy we went. I scoured the Facebook groups I was a part of all day immediately upon landing, and what should come across the Arena Shelter page, but a request for suitcases. This had been what I had wanted to spend the money on in the first place, so I immediately messaged the woman in charge and she told me that they had been trying to get donations, but little money was coming through for the suitcases. I told her how much I had, which was around 4,000 zloty (pln). I could almost hear her tears of relief through the chat. I immediately sent her over the money and she assured me she’d send photos once they had purchased the suitcases. Sure enough, nothing but joyful cloudy drops filled my eyes when the next day I received a photo of 19 suitcases to help families transition out of the shelter.

Our trip came and went and it was marvelous. Stories for another time perhaps… My parents hung out with us in Poznan for another several days, and in that time, my dad and I had our music gig at the Surfing Cowboy. That was AMAZING! My parents eventually had to say their goodbyes mid-May, and as soon as they left my own tearful packing and goodbyes began. I cannot express how much our time in Poland meant to us. Between the amazing trips, the wonderful friends, Otis’ school, the food, the lifestyle, all of it… it was an experience and time in my life unlike anything else. I looked around at all the Ukrainian and Polish flags, all the billboards of support, and the beautiful sunset one last time, and thought to myself, "We truly lived here." It might have only been one year, but it was one, if not thee, most impactful year of my life. As I hugged Otis’ teacher and dear friend, Nat, we both compulsively sobbed knowing it would be the last time we would see each other…maybe ever. I will never forget that embrace and the lovely words from her and many dear friends. I don’t think I could forget Poland if I tried.

Otis and I said our last farewell on May 28th. We were greeted with cheerful hugs from my parents as we arrived, and although it felt good to be back in our home state, a part of my heart felt left behind.

There is so much that has happened between now and then, but we are settling into life in Pennsylvania and I look forward to sharing more at a later date. At the very least, it has been a real comfort to see so many Ukrainian flags here in NEPA. Thank you so much for stopping by to hear my public diary tales.

We send lots of love from PA,

The Clods

Here's a big photo dump. Pictures include signage around Poznan, other friends who helped with volunteer efforts, my parents visit, my goddaughters visit and them helping (fellow gingers), our church packed to the brim, and more.