I
Don't know I think family
Taking time for your family is really important
And that's something I think I've started to learn myself as I grow old older
You know when you're young you kind of almost?
Not to say that you take your family for granted, but other priorities
Are always first than your family and the truth about it all is that?
Family's all that we will ever have because when we're old
We lose everything else the people that are with us the people that love us for no matter what no matter if we're poor or rich
or
you know
sick or healthy they're there for us and those are the people that really matter and those are your family and
so you know when you get a
Phone call that says your grandmother is not doing well and that your mom's out there
And you know that you're only ten hour flight away from seeing them then how you make that choice, and that's what we did
So here we are and it's been wonderful, and I'm so happy we came even though. We're freezing our butts off here
Will you remember?
So this tree right here
Is really really important to me and my whole
Family we used to have a lot of animals growing up in the village like many cats and dogs and rabbits and chickens I
Don't know we just we all had a very
special
Bond with our animals in our culture. We wanted to keep them close to us that we can visit them
Just like we do with you our relatives
we actually
used this tree
As an area where buried all of our animals so times like this 20 years later
I can come back to the same tree on a hill and pay respect to my beloved cat, dog
grandparents dog
and dog
very special
beautiful memory
The fact that we care to love our animals
so we are in my hometown a
Village called gorbonivka
which is in Poltava in ukraine and
this is a town where I'm from I grew up here a
Lot of memories here a lot of my family's from here, and I'm so happy that I'm finally able to bring mark
because he's all you've heard is just stories, but
never actually
Have witnessed the energy and the people that I talk about
There's something really beautiful about this place that I really miss is just incredible peace
Closing the lake I used to come here when I was a kid all the time
and it was just like a short walk from my old house and
It's so peaceful here
Love it so much. I
Remember doing a lot of jumps up off this dock when I was a kid. It's really special to me and my family
especially the fact that like everybody on my mom's side has lived in this village like from you know my cousin's to my
great-grandparents
The fact that I have the same memories that would see my great-grandparents have of this lake and even yesterday
I was showing marks from the photos of my grandma
Who when she was young you know all beautiful in her bathing suits, just like having fun
And I don't know just living life with my grandpa of time
And you know time has gone?
And I can still come back here this day and just sit down
And take a deep breath and just think about the fact that my blood my roots
everyone's from this little tiny place and then ukraine
It's a very strange and weird feeling, but I feel like I'm home
So we're walking down the streets of Kiev ukraine right now
Visiting my family. It's funny because this morning. We walked by the circus in Kiev and I told mark
The story the very first time I had an experience going to a circus with my grandmother
I was probably about 6 or 7 years old and I went to the key of circus here
I made my grandmother leave because I started bawling my eyes out when they brought up little baby bear cubs
dressed Ballerina dresses and
Everybody started laughing at them and they were forced to go on their behind like and dance
And ever since then I've had a very strong
Passion against animals in circuses and so then we're walking by this beautiful park
And we see all these people around and they were protesting against
Animals being used in certificates today's national circuitry is crazy like what are the odds of that all the students occur?
It says I'm against circuses that use animals when everyone's started chanting they were chanting deficit
I'm for circuses without animals. I'm free services without
Reaching so many people gathering with signs and cents kindness, not cruelty. It's not even just using them for the entertainment
It's taking their lives away
Yeah taking the freedoms alive like their whole lives for what a half an hour circus show or a half an hour show at Seaworld
again
I think that's what a lot of people misinterpret about people who don't want to use animals in shows
They think as I did at one point
Well, what's wrong with a half an hour dolphin show or what's wrong with a half an hour seaworld show
But it's not about that
It's about the fact that it's their entire lives
living in a cage in poor conditions
Prison when they should be in the wild when they should be having the freedom that all sentient beings
Deserve in exchange for what us to pay 20 bucks to go see a Frickin circus show it's ridiculous
It's just that's one of the issues about humans is we think we have the right to do things like that when we don't I?
Was really happy and I was really happy to support a cause like that
It gives us an opportunity to talk right now about it to you guys and start a discussion
And that's that's where change comes from and bringing that awareness that this needs to stop animals are not ours
who
boarding a train
Leaving here
Going to poltava
So a train like this
I boarded with my family when we first immigrated to
Canada and I have this memory of us sitting on a train and
my whole family being outside on the platform and as the train starts to move we're just
Waving goodbye to them
and it was a very sad moment because
we knew you're moving you're immigrating to a new country and as landed immigrants at that time we weren't allowed to leave the country for at
Least four years so we knew that us thing by which that most of each other for at least three years if not longer
So it was a very difficult emotional time and here. I am again. There's that train
Lot of dogs in this country a lot of stray dogs a lot have had very traumatic experiences of human
So they usually you know run away before you even approach them
But some some time to time that you find we are so sweet
We can give them country
so people
This we must be my path that I would take like a shortcut for my house to fill a little
Store there and have like 10 cents or something for my mom and I'd run out and then buy like one candy right there
It's actually the house that I grew up in my dad my grandpa and a couple of their friends
Actually built the entire house with their hands. They'd be building while we're living there so at a point
We like all lived in a kitchen and slept in the kitchen area and we're the rest of the house being soaked
It's been so crazy to come back here
Have all these memories this house and this place meant a lot to my family
I always think about like what my life would be if we didn't leave ukraine and if we stayed here
And we should go be many wonderful things
But it's God who knows what my life would be or where I would be right now, so I'm very grateful
this high spread here used to be my kindergarten a
Little Little Weenie Weenie, Julianna
And my grandma was the director of the school so but a lot of my childhood is behind these
these Walls
This little guys is following us everywhere He's scrappy
Every time he collapses on the floor and wants you to scratch his belly
Why?
so
Yeah, before we decided to go back
To the sun and warmth we came to lviv
it is actually a very special place for mark because of his ukrainian route
This is where my family is from my entire family actually who through the immigration process
We don't know much about it. All so it makes it really interesting to come here and imagine that this tree
We're walking on could be the street my unknown relative
Probably walked on at some point knew us
The Weather's not so great, but the city is beautiful. It's gorgeous here
It honestly feels like we're just walking to Paris right now
unbelievable
There's something to be said about all this boat
But we've been learning
Everywhere we go and everyone. We meet on this since we left Toronto. It's really beautiful actually. I think that this is like
Really realize how much our culture at home and how much when we're there?
We take what we have and the opportunities of braavos for granted
it's not just about like money and having things it's about just being able to make choices to
Do things with your energy and time
It's just a matter of like
What do you what? Do you what? Do you spend your extra hours after you work your job doing?
and then
Are you happy about that?
it's been really difficult for me to see my grandma that way because
My grandmother was like a second mom to me. It's really sad when
You see someone you love and care about so much get to point in their life where?
She's there
But her memory is bad, she doesn't talk anymore actually says a couple words and when she does it's very precious
Just said by to my Dad who was here with us a few days
Think you realize sometimes that you don't know how long it's going to be before you see somebody so goodbyes can be pretty out
pretty heavy
What's really sad is the reality of life?
That's going to also be me one day that's going to be all of us one day that life is impermanent
That life is very precious and with the people in our life are extremely precious and really important
It's crazy that we got to do this together me, and him he'd never been to believe me
It's something really special
That's a really important
realization
If you have that opportunity, and you better be doing something good with it
You better be following dreaming passions not going stocking any sort of routine?
Makes its life is exciting and beautiful as you can if you have the opportunity to do
It makes you think about your story, and this story
It kind of gives you a little bit of inspiration
To live it better
to make it
a stronger story that you can be proud of
When you finally put your head down
and I know it will be very difficult tomorrow when I have to say goodbye to her because
Every time I say bye to her it's like
You really don't know you're going to see her again
You know it's like saying goodbye to someone and knowing in your heart that this might be the last goodbye
just tell her how much I love her and how much I'm
grateful for
The upbringing she gave me so ah I'm crying
God life is so crazy
It's so short