LOST and FOUND

Flickr photo by SenselesslyLost

LOST: I lose things and I get mad at myself for it. Some things are minor, a pencil, a pen, an umbrella. Many umbrellas. Some are major. Like losing my camera. I was in Lenin park commemorating the 9 May remembrance of the end of World War II, a huge holiday here. I don't think Americans can even begin to comprehend the devastation of that war on the land and its people. Millions lost.

The park was crowded with young and old, veterans and their families. I stopped and chatted with people I knew as I strolled to the WWII memorial, which is powerful and moving. After a few hours I wondered toward home with my friend Natasha (with her family below right). I stopped at a store to buy water, thinking about World War II and the ways we remember, feeling good about being part of this community's commemoration--an American sharing memories of the war in Ukraine with a Russian-speaking village, and the complicated history that spun out of this tragedy.

FOUND: I didn't discover my camera missing until I got home and unpacked my shoulder bag. I panicked. I looked everywhere, even in the most unlikely and illogical places, just to be doing something to find my camera. Darn, where could I have left the camera that had taken so many wonderful photos of my Ukrainian adventure. I don't remember putting it down.

I stewed for a couple of days. I began calculating the cost of another camera, money I didn't want to spend. On my way to Victoria's yesterday I stopped at the store. Who knows? I asked the owners if they had seen a camera, in Russian I had written down. They knew immediately what I wanted.

And guess what? They had it! They had my camera. I jumped for joy, hugged them, thanked them, and bought cookies to show my appreciation. Ukrainian honesty and good will, and luck!

Now I can include a couple of photos I took on 9 May. I heard my camera singing: "I was lost, but now I'm found..." Amazing grace!