Anya Yurchyshyn

Anya's childhood in Boston was anything but pleasant. Her father, George traveled constantly, living in foreign countries but she remembers him primarily distant and abusive before his death in the Ukraine by car accident. Her mother, Anita, an alcoholic who turned the notch up on her use after her husband's death, seemed indifferent to her children at best, resentful and demeaning as only some of the worst. Following Anita's death, Anya takes on the task of going through her mother's show more home.....a home that she finds holds numerous surprises.
In life, her parents were a mystery, their home filled with items from countries around the world in which they had visited. But together they fought constantly and Anya could never understand why they were together in the first place. As she goes through each room, each drawer, each closet, more pieces of who George and Anita are revealed. A couple who, at one time, loved each other deeply, who suffered terribly the loss of a son before Anya was born, and who died alone.
Anya's story is beautifully written and makes one mindful of the fact that our parents are individual people too....that they make mistakes, they love, the hurt and they try in the only ways that they know how. The journey begun in her mother's home leads Anya to explore further her family's history in Wales and the Ukraine, creating connections that she didn't even know existed. And learning that her father's death may have been no accident.
Her story is touching and delineates the connection between everyone's past and present as our parents' children. show less

This was such a heart-wrenching but beautiful story. As someone who has lost both of her parents, I found myself empathizing with the author on a deeper level. As she told her story, I could imagine myself there, right beside her. While most stories like this don’t end happily, I feel that it ended as well as it possibly could.