In Memories, They Will Forever Linger

70 years passed after the war and people all over the world remember about it. It is especially remembered in Russia and former Soviet republics.
With the Soviet Union's loss of at least 25 000 000, it is not surprising that almost every Russian family has a relative who died in that war. 


Regardless of profession, people fought. Defending the country and fighting for a humane cause was not solely a soldier's job. It was every man's (and woman's who took part) task.

"No one is forgotten, Nothing is forgotten" as most messages on those flowers state.
Flowers flourished around the Eternal flame at the Victory park on May 9th. It's a holiday that celebrates the victory of WWII. However the highlights of this event is not to celebrate, not the Victory parade but the commemoration of those whose lives perished in the war.
People came to bring flowers, utter prayers and pay respect.Family members took active part in the "Commemorative Immortal Regiment March". It took place in every Russian city. The pictures below are taken from the internet since I wasn't able to go out early morning to witness the whole event. I was late and those above are few of the ones I saw.To give you an idea how many people have relatives from the WWII, here are some pictures from few cities.

In Moscow, the president himself took part in this parade bringing the portrait of his father in naval uniform.

Like I said, everyone has relative who died in the war. They aren't distant relatives. They are parents and grandparents, great-grandparents to some. I probably don't  need to explain why 9th May is celebrated/commemmorated in Russia & former Soviet republics much more than than in any country.In Philippines, we have Heroes Day and it when we commemmorate all those considered heroes of different times. Again, it feels different to just know the facts and numbers of casualties than to have yourself surrounded by people who actually are their family. Those casualties are someone to my family-in-law, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, to the stranger I sit next to in the bus, to the cashier I pay my groceries to, to the taxi driver taking me here and there, to unpleasant woman in the line, to the rude guy who was smoking at the bus stop, to the annoying neighbor plays loud music at night...In other words, everybody has someone to remember on this day no matter what kind of people they are. This year's anniversary was quite intensive than other years since it is the 70th year and I can't put everything in one post. 

This was also an active holiday for me since I still don't know if I am leaving or not, so I am just making the most of my time.

Bad Accident -Worst day!

Honestly, I don't want to believe in bad days but sometimes some things are just so extreme that you'd just utter ... today's a bad day. Sigh 😦

I felt tired at work today but after hearing my hub's account on an accident he witnessed on the road today, I felt mentally, emotionally and even more physically exhausted. I felt drained understanding things, my heart trembled with anger, bleed with frustration weighing the situation. I ended up feeling desperate and so unjust. This isn't fair. This isn't good. This shouldn't be happenning. I don't want to believe in this.

He was walking at the CITY CENTRE near the big ballet theatre, orchestral concert halls, the city hall and the federal security bureau.   It is the Freedom square where the old statue of Lenin is standing. In short it is in the Heart of the city, the Face of the city. This is the place where you'd feel the safest at any time of the day. You know that no one will try to do anything unruly or disobey the law for it is the most watched place. For 2 years at least I believed in it... until today.

At one of the CROSSINGS, someone just got hit by a car.

So my husband's walking aling the road and he saw 3 people were crossing the road (on the pedestrian lane). He heard a car coming up with a speeding up sound from the motors of the car. (Please excuse how I'm describing this car's motion, perhaps I'm ignorant in some terms, I don't have a car, I don't drive and am not planning to). And suddenly   BOOOOM! A flying body, a loud screeeetch and shock. He said he even looked away because he couldn't believe his eyes like it's from the movies. It cannot be happening for real. But then very fast he looked back and only then he felt his heart started pounding  seeing the girl at the middle of the road shaking (maybe shaking is not the right term) She probably was already unconscious, maybe it was just her body's reaction. Then the shaking stopped and she was still. The driver came out shouting like "Why the f*ck did you walk!?" First thing that came out of my hub's mind is to come and hit him right in his face for being such an asshole. For Christ's sake he just hit a Person, a freaking Living Person. But then he saw him walked to and fro with his hands on his head. He was as well in shock.  It was just his initial reaction. In just 7 minutes police, ambulance were all there, like I've said, it is the most watched area, not to mention cameras all over.

This incident scared the hell out of me. I probably will be shaking on my knees the next time I go out and cross the road. To be honest I already have phobia on the road since China (we used to live there before moving here). I thought that when I come, I'll lose it. No, I definitely did not and probably will never. Two years ago, on the exact pedestrian lane, we were shouted at by a driver. We were standing on the pavement, waiting for cars to go so we can cross. The driver got angry at us because he didn't know if we wanted to cross or not, because we're standing towards the pedestrian lane. That time, we were still behaving like we used to because in China we usually wait till all close approaching cars pass before we cross safely. Here, (and probably in all other countries) if you stand on the lane it means you're crossing, logically so the driver simply got confused of what we were doing. This is one thing if the driver doesn't want to be fined for not letting a pedestrian go. But the other case is when a driver is trying to make it before you could pass. And this exactly was the case in this afternoon's accident. You know, I don't even want to call it an accident.  Accidents are things which happen despite of precaution. But where was the precaution in this case? He knew he was approaching a pedestrian lane, he saw before this girl there were already 2 people crossing. The fact that there were people on the lane, he should just stop until the passed. Why on earth would an adequate person speed up when approaching a PEDESTRIAN LANE???!!! Can you imagine that he sped up and gave all this force to the girl he hit? This is insane. My brain still refuse to believe.

I actually feel emotional about this because it might as well happen to me or to anyone I love. Everyday for 2 years I am crossing this small road with a pedestrian lane and I had to wait for 3-8 minutes before I could cross safely. I make sure the next car coming is far enough to reach me while crossing. And you know what, everytime I cross, I ran because as soon as I walk, I see cars speeding up. It was always a question for me why instead of slowing down, they're speeding up? Today the incident unlocked this mystery for me. They are trying to cut before you. Unbelievable! 😢 My colleagues one time noticed that I was waiting for a long time before I cross. I told them I'm afraid to cross when there's too many cars. They told me to simply start walking and they'll stop. That the logic is, if you go, they'd stop. If they don't see you going, they'd go themselves. I tried it few times and it somehow worked, it's like "I'm more brave than your car, so give way to me". I think I was just lucky during those times. What happened today was an example of such logic. "You see me going, so stop". And what happened was they both thought that the other would stop. Such a tragedy of nature.

It so heartbreaking that a person could just lose her life in a split second caused by idiocrasy of somebody. I don't feel good calling people bad names but in this case the driver was an idiot. And he paid for his idiocrasy.  It'll serve him a lesson of course, a lesson learned the hard way. And for the girl, what was it for? She was crossing in the right place. That's what I always keep in mind and tell my husband whenever we're on the road that no matter how far the pedestrian lane is, we should only cross on it, that no matter what happens, we should be in the right side. It is so unfair. The most tragic thing is, if you think about the driver, he probably has his own family, he probably is working for them, to feed them, to finance his kids education. He might even have a daughter like this girl he hit today. He'll end up in prison to justify the girl's unfortunate fate, and then what? His family suffers then what? The victim's family ends up happy? I don't think so. SIGH. No one is triumphant in this situation. I still don't know if the girl survived. I feel bad that I'm talking about this and it doesn't change what had happened or help solve the problem. Things are so unfair sometimes. My heart still aches even after I've confided.

P.S.
I want to add that not all Russians are like this driver today. I personally know many adequate people who don't behave the same. But I don't want to cover up for many A-holes on the road. I must admit that they exist. There are many of them and they are my constant irritants.

Are you ready?

I asked myself if I'm ready for the real cold ahead. I see fur coats, down jackets, warmers, beanies, gloves, scarves, boots and all other winter goods all around.

I have winter "gadgets" I call them gadgets by the way 😊. But I've already worn them last year. My down coat is 2 years old and my boots are a year old.

It's not that I'm being capricious but no matter  how good quality your clothes are, harsh winter can really olden them fast. My boots for example are just a year old but it obviously has served me well. It looks worn out. I mean I still like them but they look a bit more soggy now. And my coat, it for sure feels thinner and less warmer. It still looks good,  no scratches,  nothing. It simply feels less warmer. I feel bad buying a new one again and I feel worse keeping the old one in the closet just to take space. I like clothes and stuff in general but I dislike it when they take too much space which means  I probaby have more than enough already. Sometimes it maybe really pays off to buy one quite expensive fur coat which will last forever. But the thing is... for some reasons, I don't like them. I see them a lot in winter. Russian women in fur coats seem to symbolize Russian winter and Russian women.  It has been always a part of their culture.  I know that very often they are critized for that. That they are wild, or for reasons like it's unethical to kill animals for fur. Yes maybe it is, but you cannot just take something away from someone's old ways which has been running through many generations. Like I said it is part of their culture. Maybe it'll change in time... no one knows for a fact. Plus I personally don't like criticising people for such reason.  I have met really good, educated Russians who have big hearts and are very kind to animals in fact, but they love fur coats 😊.

Anyway, back to my question, am I ready for the real cold? I guess not yet. Are you?