By Daniel Hooker
Olga and I met at our Vashon Library, to complete the second part of her story (“There’s No Place Like Home.”) I listen to Olga and the details of her intensive caring for two raccoon cubs. From the after-meal belly massages (feeding being done with a small eye dropper of a bottle), to sprinkling water on their reproductive areas to promote urination, I realize all the love, caring, and compassion that she instilled upon them would be passed on to the individuals visiting in the bomb shelter she converted into the Raccoon Cafe. The raccoon’s playful interactions would have a calming, grounding effect upon those who were in need of such a meeting of nature’s beautiful creatures.
Olga’s support of her community under siege extended to supplying transportation to an international organization that brought food to those who are hungry, specifically to civilians trapped on the front lines of war-torn countries. I’m in awe of this heroine before me, speaking to my heart of the human condition, and the needs that she filled, as she watched her society crumble.
She made this statement: “What should I do in my life. Should I wait for the missile to drop on me, or participate in helping people in my community?”
Olga continues her story. She speaks of herself and others rescuing people during the random bombardment of missiles, ushering people to safety, into the Raccoon Cafe, down below the city streets of Central Kharkiv.
Olga’s journey soon changed as she continued to pursue her studies in Barcelona to achieve her Masters Degree in Business.
Before moving to Spain, Olga visited Barcelona, and was able to convince herself to enjoy the moment of being just a human, enjoying the richness of the Spanish, and the relaxed state of living for which the Spaniards are so renowned.
Olga felt guilty about enjoying herself in Spain as the war raged on in Ukraine. She gave herself the license to live in the present.
She purchased a discounted ticket (50 Euros, instead of 100 Euros) to witness the architectural wonder and artistry of the Basillica de la Sagrada Familia, the most ornate cathedral known to mankind in present times, still under construction through several generations.
Olga’s description of this cathedral is incredible. Her eyes, face, and being light up angelically as she describes the feelings, the atmosphere of peace she felt as she soaked up the essence of the light streaming through the colored ornate windows, reflecting natural sunset hues streaming into this inner sacred cathedral, of homage to a spiritual figure, promoting peace, compassion, understanding, and brotherly love.
Olga says, “Each wall and section where I looked was the story of Jesus, from his birth, the time of his teaching his disciples, to his crucifixion, as well as his resurrection from death.”
All of which is just a template of what we as humans aspire to.
