This is the third in a series of brief profiles of some of the internally displaced people (“IDP”s) who have sheltered at the assisted living home where I am volunteering as a nursing aid.

Every morning beginning in early spring, Oleksandra Ivanovna goes out to pick a small bouquet of fresh flowers for the dormitory room she stays in here.

At 64 years of age, Sasha is as active, mischievous and cheerful as one of Santa’s elves.

Oleksandra was born and raised in the Poltava region of Ukraine. In 1960, when she was just one year old, her mother decided to go to Russia to look for work. She left little Sasha with her grandmother. Sasha never saw her mother again.

After high school, Sasha was assigned to work as a plasterer in Kyiv. She later arranged to move to Artemivsk (now called Bakhmut) to be closer to her only family member. In Artemivsk she began working at a brick factory. She also met Volodymyr and they eventually married. Later, she and Volodymyr moved to Ivano-Dariivka. They enjoyed a garden of more than one hectare and raised various kinds of livestock including chickens, turkeys, goats, cows and pigs. Rural life completely absorbed them.

Sasha and Volodymyr rarely parted because they had no one else but each other. When their village was heavily bombarded during the Russian invasion in 2022, they evacuated to their friends’ home, 7 km away. But even there they were not left in peace.

During another shelling, they were hiding in a cellar, but the blast wave blew out the door and Volodymyr, who was shielding Sasha with his body, received shrapnel wounds to his leg and arm. He was taken to a hospital in Dnipro, and Sasha came to shelter at the assisted living home. After the cold and half-starved days in the bomb shelter, Oleksandra warmed up both in body and soul, and now she helps out at the assisted living home every day.

Every morning and evening she helps her ailing roommate empty and wash her bedside commode. She also sweeps and mops the floors in the cafeteria and halls and empties the trash baskets almost every morning. Often she also helps with hang-drying laundry and folding and sorting dry laundry. She also occasionally helps the dining team set out meals. When the weather is nice she can often be found escorting one or two of the more feeble residents on refreshing strolls outdoors.

Oleksandra rarely sits idle.

Recently, we received some good news: Oleksandra’s husband Volodymyr was released from the hospital alive and well and he is looking for her. We hope he will come to us soon. It will be wonderful for Oleksandra and Volodymyr to be reunited after many months, and they will be welcome here as long as they need a place to shelter and the good people who support this assisted living home continue to care.