I once found myself praying not for safety, but for a quick rocket — anything that would make it end fast. War changes the way your brain works, the way your soul feels. Some parts of you never come back.

Immigration looks like survival from the outside — but inside, it’s something quieter and lonelier. It’s learning to live between worlds, to speak in borrowed words, to keep walking even when nothing feels like home. No one tells you that starting over means losing a version of yourself you may never find again — and still learning to love what remains.

It’s about the hidden side of survival—how fear and pain can reveal a quiet strength over time. Courage isn’t always loud or heroic; sometimes it’s simply taking the next step, holding on, or believing in tomorrow.

A personal letter behind the memoir Life Beyond Fear: A Ukrainian Woman's Memoir. A story of war, survival, and the small voice that insists: live anyway.