Print Managing Editor and Journalism 1 Faciliator Chloe Sears stands in front of a television watching an illustrated version of the attacks on Ukraine from Russian, while on the second slide, the debris she saw on the TV is surrounding her. Sears has a personal connection to current events in Ukraine through her family, even if they’re on the other side of the world. Illustration by Eleanor Robinson
Print Managing Editor and Journalism I Facilitator Chloe Sears writes about her familial connection to Ukraine, and how current events in the country are impacting her.
I am a third-generation American in a family whose ancestry can predominantly be traced back to Ukraine—specifically Kyiv.
On the night of Wednesday, Feb. 23, I read the following headline from The New York Post on my phone: “Putin declares war on Ukraine as deadly missile strikes plunge country into bloodshed.”
As I read the headline, my stomach dropped and my heart broke because my relatives are being hurt by Russia’s attacks. I’ve never met my Ukrainian family so at first I felt silly for feeling that way, but I soon realized I have no reason to feel anything but sorrow and remorse for them.
My great-grandmother had eight or nine siblings—the exact number is unknown. If my great-grandparents hadn’t left Ukraine for Canada when my grandmother was a child, my family wouldn’t be living in America.
My family probably wouldn’t exist except for the slim chance that family history played out the way it did in New York in the mid-1900s.
I’ve never met them before, but I know they’re still my people. They’re my family.
My large number of aunts, uncles and cousins would all be together in Kyiv, instead of spread out between Ukraine, Canada and the United States. I’ve never met them before, but I know they’re still my people.
They’re my family.
Growing up, my grandmother used to call me her little курка, or little chicken. She said the same to my siblings. It was this word that inspired me to start learning the language at 14 years old.
My 90-year-old great aunt has been in touch with a cousin in Ukraine, who wrote a letter to her son saying how much it meant to their family that my Aunt Rose financially supported them the way that she did.
Because those are her people, too.
My heart goes out to the people of Ukraine. To my family on the other side of the world, even though I haven’t met you my heart still aches for you during this time. I wish there was something more I could do to help you, but until then please know that I’m sending all of my love.
