Last week was the 20th anniversary of a failed coup by hard line communists that attempted to overthrow the Russian government, under Mikhail Gorbachev, which marked the beginning of the fall of the Soviet Union. As part of the Soviet break up Ukraine declared its independence and this week (August 24th) Ukrainians will mark the 20th anniversary of their own nationhood. Having come back from Ukraine just over a month ago I had another one of those who’d a thunk moments of how much has changed in 20 years.
In the 1970’s my grandparents had a housekeeper named Shirley whose parents were from Ukraine. They had left there illegally years before and found their way to Canada to live. (Shirley was born in Canada.) While Shirley was working for my grandparents her father had made special arrangements to go back to Ukraine to visit his family and take Shirley with him to see where he was from. Because he had left Ukraine illegally, under the Soviet regime he had to get a lot of special permissions and wade through a lot of red tape in order to go back for a short visit.
When they got there they were only allowed to go to certain places and their movements were restricted. I remember Shirley telling us how they disguised themselves with rain gear and goggles to take a motorcycle trip to see some of the country. She also told of how their family would turn the radio on in the kitchen and then they would all go to the living room to (quietly) ask about life in Canada.
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, when we were kids growing up in the 1970’s we never even thought of travelling to a former Soviet country. We never even thought there would be a former Soviet Union. When I was preparing for my trip to Ukraine this year all I needed was a valid passport and an airline ticket. Then when we got there we went where we pleased and talked about whatever we wanted without any kind of restriction. (Well, except for security reasons you can’t take pictures in certain parts of the Kiev Metro system.) We travelled around the countryside and saw an amazing country and met some amazing people.
Ukraine is a beautiful country and it’s very easy to see why the Ukrainian immigrants to Canada felt so at home when they got here. The scenery in Ukraine looks like either a larger version of Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley or like the prairies in Saskatchewan – complete with wheat fields. Even the vegetation in both countries is identical with the same types of trees, weeds, everything.
So yes a LOT has changed in 20 years in Ukraine for the better. To the people who I now call my brothers and sisters in Ukraine, I wish you all a happy Independence Day and pray even greater things for your future. Я люблю тебя!
Soviet Mother Motherland statue that is part of the memorial park in Kiev for the Great Patriotic War (WW II).
Monument to Berehynia in Independence Square, Kiev.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berehynia
