I’ve been struggling with how to correctly articulate my thoughts about the war in Ukraine.
I mean, it sucks. It’s so tragic. It’s beyond asinine. It’s brutal.
What else is there to say, really?
Then, as I was playing with my 18-month daughter, I started processing this concept: what if, instead of feeding her snacks and hearing her laugh as we play in the comfort of our cozy home, we were in a shelter literally dodging bombs and bullets with the uncertainty of whether we’d survive the day.
And, if we did survive, what would we be surviving for?
Where would we find food? Do we even have a home to go back to? Could my oldest daughter go back to school someday? Where could we use a restroom?
Would either of my daughters ever experience a normal life again?
Shelters hosting civilians seeking refuge have been destroyed.
Hospitals with expectant mothers have been bombed.
Newborns and children have been murdered.
Civilians are the targets.
War is atrocious.
Nobody wins.
We all lose.
I’ve struggled to describe my emotions because it’s so obvious, isn’t it? I don’t need special words or creativity. I don’t need to say something someone else hasn’t, which is my normal goal. War sucks. Any leader of a nation who targets kills civilians and bombs hospitals and residential areas is a war criminal. What new phrase exists to describe this?
I usually have a pretty keen interest in global affairs - I have a degree in International Relations - but this is beyond the pale. I really don’t know what the answers are or how this ends.
I do know that the Ukrainian people did not and do not deserve this.
No one does. Yemen. Palestine. Iraq. Afghanistan. Ethiopia. Rwanda. Bosnia. Libya. No one does.
Civilians deserve to live their lives in peace.
Usually, I’m pretty good at deciphering my thoughts. This has been different. It has been difficult to express my thoughts about all of this.
I don’t have anything profound to say tonight. I wish I did.
I do know I am angry.
You should be too.