On Monday morning a car picked us up and took us to the synagogue on Shchekavitskaya Street. We got to Odessa, spent the night there, and moved to the border with Moldova. There was a problem at the “Starokazachie” checkpoint where we were informed that only the evacuees would be able to cross the border, but not the drivers. They said we had to make arrangements for another bus to pick us up from the Moldovan side and we were to cross the border by foot. Most passengers would be able to do this but not my mother and not a 26-year-old woman with cerebral palsy. As a result, we went to another crossing, Palanka. We waited there almost until midnight, and just as we were beginning to get hysterical, three buses drove up, and the Moldovan border guards helped to carry those who were not able to walk to those buses. This is how, on a freight bus, seated on blankets, we made it to Chisinau.
Moldovan solidarity
In Moldova, we were put up in a small hotel, a block from the synagogue, I am eternally grateful to its volunteers. The next day, the doctors came to check on my mother and said that any medical assistance would be provided if required, including hospitalization.
Another memory. Most of the meals we were given consisted of pasta and Mom, being diabetic was not allowed these foods. There was no place to cook for her, so I went to the supermarket to buy instant buckwheat kasha to mix with hot water. So, during this trip to the supermarket I got lost. An older woman came up to me and asked if I needed help. I explained that I am not a local, from Kyiv… and she began: “Damn Putin, damn this war!” She said that her sister from Tyumen (Russia) claims that Russians only “work” on military targets and that civilians do not suffer. This woman went on to say that she tried to convince her sister in Russia of different facts, "You should come here, look at these children, and the women - they came naked, barefoot, they left everything and ran, escaping from death." She then continued talking to me: “All this will end, and I know that it will end, and when Ukraine wins - I will send all my retirement pension for restoration”. The woman then proceeds to take money out of her wallet - “buy what you need for your mother.” I politely refused, telling her that I have, thank God, a Ukrainian card. “No”, she says, “take it, because no one knows - I live in the center of Chisinau, and what if I have to run away from here with one bag. If Ukraine doesn't stop them, we can be next.” And it's true, they have Transnistria up next to them.
On the one hand, you feel like a beggar, on the other hand, you feel that this person is ready to share with you wholeheartedly. God sends such people. There are many miracles that we can call a coincidence, and yet.
And they took care of our dog: Sonya Sotnik helped to get the vet papers, vaccinations, contacted the veterinarian, called and paid for a taxi. The veterinarian examined and chipped the dog, but after several days, the 11-year-old dog began to cough; he had a weak heart. I called Sonya again who arranged for a cardiology veterinarian right away even on the doctor’s day off, and the woman came specially just to see my dog.