WINNIPEG FREE PRESS UKRAINIAN SPECIAL

The special FYI issue today is on Ukrainians in Winnipeg and Manitoba.  I'm honoured that I was asked to contribute    (one correction, though:    in my article on surnames -- IBAHKO   was what I had, but it lower case - as was "corrected" is Ibahko...   whaaaa?! -- misses the point)




http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/fyi/ 

You will have to search for "Ukrainians FYI" for individual articles.  Trying to find a specific link to the whole section.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/keeping-ukrainian-in-the-classroom-160104645.html


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/multimedia/pov/WinnipegsUkrainianheritage-160063855.html

FOR FATHER'S DAY: RECOLLECTIONS OF TATO

This was written in 1987, and published in The Ukrainian Weekly.

My father, Vasyl, died almost nine years ago. The day after my sister's

wedding, he suffered a severe heart attack, spent two months in a coma, and

died without regaining consciousness on November 1, 1978. For some reason,

Father's Day is the hardest day in the year for me, more painful than the day

of his death, or his birthday.

Tato lived a life similar to that of thousands of Ukrainian men of his

generation (born right before and during the First World War). He was born

and grew up in the Boyko region. His mother died when he was very young,

and the stereotypical evil stepmother came into his life. He finished the

schooling available under Polish rule to the children of the village (selo). The

family was strongly aware of its national and cultural ideals, and participated

in the organized life of the selo.

UKRAINIAN WEDDINGS

Wedding season is in full swing.  We attended one last week, and are going to another one today.  Gorgeous weather, sunny, lovely, God is good!


People in Manitoba look forward to being invited to a Ukrainian wedding because it is fun.  Much fun.  Also, full of tradition.  And, you don't get married in 15 minutes!  Takes a while.  But still fun.

Many years ago, I presented a paper on Ukrainian Manitoba weddings for the Manitoba Historical Society Conference at the University of Manitoba.  It was published in The Ukrainian Weekly in two parts here and here.

Please check the references at the end of part II for more info.

STAY INFORMED

about Ukrainian issues.

A few good sites for current and historical information:

http://www.eposhta.com/newsmagazine/

http://www.infoukes.com/       http://www.infoukes.com/lists/   [esp. history, politics, announce]

http://www.nashholos.com/

http://www.ukrweekly.com/

And there are so many others.  Keep informed!

May 9th anniversary

Please scroll down to REMEMBER -- 11/11/2011

Applies to the supposed "victory" for Ukraine at the end of WW II.  Some victory.

YOU READ ME, YOU REALLY READ ME!

As I'm learning how to blog, with so much help from Paulette/Pawlina of Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio, I'm blown away by the "statistics" button on the blogging page.  It shows page views by country and, holy mackerel, I would never have expected to have readers around the world -- not only Canada and the USA, but Ukraine, Russia, Indonesia, Netherlands, China, Gabon, France, Georgia, Chile, Australia, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Czech Republic, South Africa, Phillipines, Latvia, and Thailand.  Who woulda thunk!   Now if some people would leave comments.... or become followers.....   that would be great.  Thanks, everyone!

FOR MOTHER'S DAY

My article "Mama's War" had been around for many years now.  I have received comments about it from around the world.  Many people whose parents lived through the same events wrote that parts of this life could have been their mother's or father's story.  

Who knows how that generation survived the war and aftermath?  But they made our lives possible.  

If you haven't yet, write down your parents' and grandparents stories for yourself and your children. Don't let them be forgotten.