A letter from Jun 30, 2023

Hello! Today is 30th June, 10.13 p.m. You are now 24 and very very soon will be 25 years old. And it's been two very ****** up years. Congratulations, you survived them. Past me, I'm really sorry about how some part of the future turned out. A bit abusive / toxic non-relationship, not a very good job, covid with consequences, war between the country you live and your homeland (and where you can't go for an unknown amount of time). An arrest and an administrative record on anti-war case. Your brothers almost died. You stuck in a terrorist state, and master's degree in no near plans. The ***** of your one and only dear grandad and a close family friend. Oh, and you had surgery yesterday. What a joke. But hey, let's focus on the good things you did accomplish nevertheless. You have learned to really love yourself and ended whatever the **** it was with that guy. You stopped being embarrassed about your poor hearing. You have been in Kaliningrad and Armenia and hiked in the Altai, the Karakol Lakes. You met a lot of good people. And even more, you expanded your social circle (where you met a wonderful and beautiful boyfriend with whom you cringe together and it feels sooo amazing). You got your driver's license and found a really nice job. And you finally started saying that you are Ukrainian - what a shame that you didn’t pay attention to this way before. (well done for starting to learn your native language and also greek). I wish you to remain adventures and courageous and kind. Maybe you will go on that hike in Nepal or jump with parachute. Maybe you will rent a car and travel around Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, like you wanted last autumn before mobilisation. Now you have friends in Georgia and Armenia and Kazakhstan. In a few years you will be able to receive family invitations to the USA and the UK. And hopefully, the UA. Dunno if you will have the possibility to obtain citizenship like you planned. But hey, seeing your loved ones will be the most precious thing. And most importantly, you seem to have find your inner freedom. No matter what’s going on in this damned world and no matter what kind of isolation you find yourself. And everything will be okay.