I miss the lightheartedness of the sea

I haven’t been by the sea for almost three years

Drawing by Author

The first half of this day I read a story by Lesya Ukrainka — one of the influential Ukrainian writers — called By the Sea. It’s a beautiful short story about a time spent in Crimea, looking at the sea, breathing the sea, being by the sea. It’s interesting enough to enjoy and finish, but you won’t think much about the story afterwards unless you miss the sea as stormingly as I do.

I do miss the sea.

I start to forget what it’s like.

I don’t remember how the sea sand on my feet feels and… it’s sad.

I want to scratch my foot on a shell and disinfect it in salty waters.

I haven’t been by the sea for almost three years. The last time the sea and I met was the summer before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. My boyfriend and I went to Odessa, as we did every summer since we met. I miss being by the sea, but — in my head — it sounds pathetic when I think about this now.

There’s an ocean of bigger problems but what I miss is being by the sea.

I could go to the sea even tomorrow, I could go to Odesa, but it’s not not dangerous. Odesa is one of the cities where people still die from Russian attacks, third year into the war…