Coming to Terms with Being an Anti-Russian Russian

This essay is a revision of a previous essay, How I Learned to Hate. “Let them eat sh**.” This is what my daughter’s piano teacher said to me in Russian over the phone about Ukrainians. A prim 68 year old woman who wears her hair in a bun, I was taken aback by her statement. “I’m from the Ukraine,” I…

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How I Learned to Hate

Coming to Terms with Being an Anti-Russian Russian “Let them eat sh**.” This is what my daughter’s piano teacher said to me in Russian over the phone about Ukrainians. A prim 68 year old woman who wears her hair in a bun, I was taken aback by her statement. “I’m from the Ukraine,” I reminded her, still shocked by her…

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The End of Roe Isn’t the End of the World

Hysteria erupted since a leaked draft Supreme Court decision in May predicted the demise of Roe. Today, there is more fury at the Supreme Court’s official ruling that abortion is not a guaranteed right. But let’s face it, women still have options and this is by no means the end of abortion rights in America. For the record, I am…

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Russia’s Bitter Pill

Today marks the 86th day of the war in Ukraine, but who’s counting anymore. The war has become a habit. The shock and anger of the first few weeks has morphed into complacency.