Woman Who Lost Home in Ukraine War Finds Hope in Surviving Flowers

Woman Who Lost Home in Ukraine War Finds Hope in Surviving Flowers

A woman who lost her home in the Ukraine war is finding hope from flowers that survived the destruction.

Anna Shevchenko loved gardening around her home in Irpin. The town is outside Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. The 35-year-old schoolteacher says she felt a calming effect while caring for her plants, flowers and trees.

Shevchenko fled Irpin around March 10 with other family members, as the Russian military intensified¹ its offensive² in an attempt to capture Kyiv. Her father stayed behind, hoping to save the family home. But he was also forced to leave when the Russian shelling intensified and got closer to the neighborhood.

Anna Shevchenko, 35, waters the few flowers that survived in the garden of her home in Irpin, near Kyiv, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Anna Shevchenko, 35, waters the few flowers that survived in the garden of her home in Irpin, near Kyiv, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Most of the home was destroyed in the conflict. Shevchenko recently returned to Irpin and spoke³ to reporters from The Associated Press. The main part of the home had been flattened⁴ and reduced to a collection of rubble⁵.

Before returning, Shevchenko was able to see a picture of the destroyed home. She told reporters her grandparents had built the home "brick by brick."

"I tried to prepare myself to see it with my own eyes," she said. Shevchenko added, "and then the next moment -- I looked and I saw the flowers."

She could see some living flowers that she had dutifully cared for during happier times. Among them were a small group of daffodils and a small peony that rose above the destruction. Some were damaged, but not broken. Her tulips were starting to bloom.

"It was new life," she said. "So I tried to save my flowers." A long piece of concrete now serves as protection for the peony, which has grown new leaves. She removed a large piece of plastic from her flowering peach tree and watered a small lily plant that had risen from under a piece of concrete.

By the time winter began turning into spring, Shevchenko's family had already paid a heavy price in Russia's war against Ukraine. On the same day they lost their home, Shevchenko's father lost his leg to an explosion as he tried to flee Irpin. Her father is a man in his early 60s who had been very active and loved to ride his bicycle. Now, he almost never leaves the apartment where he has been staying since being released from the hospital.

The father has not yet seen what happened to his home. He also has not seen his bicycle, which lies smashed⁶ under broken bricks in an area that used to be his front garden.

Shevchenko said her grandparents built one part of the house for her mother, then added on another part for her uncle, which she had been living in. The addition of the house was damaged but not totally destroyed. As Shevchenko looked at the rubble, she wondered whether it was possible to save anything or if the whole house should be torn down and rebuilt.

Even with all of the destruction and her father's serious injury, Shevchenko says at least her family members are still alive. Now, when she watches new life rise from the earth in the middle of so much destruction, it gives her hope for the future.

"We have another chance," she said, "to live."

Words in This Story

gardening – n. to work in a garden: to take care of plants and flowers

rubble – n. pieces of broken bricks and other materials from a building that has been destroyed

brick – n. a small, hard, rectangular⁷ block used for building walls, houses, etc.

moment – n. a very short period of time

bloom – v. when a plant's flowers open

concrete – n. a hard, strong material that is used for building and made by mixing cement, sand, and broken rocks with water

1 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 offensive   

adj.令人不快的，侮辱的，攻击用的；n.进攻

参考例句：

• His mode of doing business is offensive to me.他干事情的方式叫我很不喜欢。
• If all else fails,I will take the offensive.如果其他方法不行，我将采取攻势。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

5 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

6 smashed   

adj.喝醉酒的v.打碎，捣烂( smash的过去式和过去分词 )；捣毁；重击；撞毁（车辆）

参考例句：

• Several windows had been smashed. 几扇窗户劈里啪啦打碎了。
• In time-honoured tradition, a bottle of champagne was smashed on the ship. 依照由来已久的传统，对着船摔了一瓶香槟。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 rectangular   

adj.矩形的，成直角的

参考例句：

• He put a rectangular box on the table.他把一个长方形的箱子放在桌子上。
• The equations are written in rectangular coordinates.这些方程是在直角座标系中写出的。