Greetings, my name is Nina Lebid. I am 47 years old, I have an already adult son (25 years old), a small grandson (3.5 years old) and now I am waiting for the birth of a granddaughter. I live in Kyiv Oblast, in the village of Thorivka, Skvira district. I have a higher education. Until December 2021, I worked as a senior technologist at a distillery. I lost my job, so now my employment has changed.
Before the war, we had a well-established and very quiet life. In the morning, I baked bread, and then did simple household chores. No one would have thought that everything would suddenly change. But on February 24, the world turned upside down. On this day, as usual, I woke up early to bake bread. It was at this activity that the first explosion caught me. Then I thought it was just a plane, because I had heard similar sounds before. And suddenly there was a second explosion, and it all started. Later, my younger sister called me. It was she who told me that the war had begun.
I decided not to go anywhere. After all, this is not the first experience of war in my life. I was born and raised in Moldova, so before that I had Transdniestria. I have already experienced this, but I ran away from it. I couldn’t run away… Probably, that is why I haven’t gone anywhere yet, and I won’t go. I’ve been in a fighting mood since the first days of the war. I know we’ll win.
Our village is relatively safe. A strange word, given the events in the country. After all, is it
possible to be sure of security during the war? Of course not. But, compared to other cities, we are quite quiet. So, we took our loved ones home. My son and his family came to me, and I started taking care of them. Subsequently, my sister and her family also moved in. I also take care of them from time to time.
Outwardly, I am confident and calm, but I feel terribly helpless, because I am physically
unable to change anything. I can’t influence this terrible situation in any way. And my loved ones motivate me to move on. Now we are waiting for the granddaughter, who is about to be born. I am also happy with my grandson. He is 3.5 years old – he is a little angel who gives me so much joy and warmth.
Now I continue to bake bread. I sell it to someone for money, and give it to someone for thanks. I also often knit different things. I learned this when I was 12 years old. I still remember with a smile how I attended a knitting club. Since then, I can’t imagine myself without a pair of knitting needles. This is my life. At least one row — but every day. I really love the process itself, when you create and concentrate on sorting through the loops. At such moments, you always think about something good. Knitting helps me to distance myself from all the evil that surrounds our Ukraine for at least a few minutes. This allows me to dream that peace will come to our land as soon as possible.