And then there was nothing.

February 23, 2022…She had friends, family, and a quiet neighborhood. She had a career. She and her husband were saving for a larger home for their children, and perhaps her parents would move in with them. She had dreams.

February 24, 2022…and then she had nothing.

Invaded by Russia. Homes destroyed. Entire cities demolished. Friends raped and killed. Her husband called hundreds of miles away to fight for their homeland against the invaders.

The bombs exploded, the tanks rumbled down her streets, and the invaders advanced by foot, she made the decision to leave. Leave her life behind, take her children, into the unknown, but away from this hell. She is among the five million women and children who packed their suitcases and backpacks with only a few of the possessions they had accumulated over a lifetime. They have nothing to return to…no home, no family, no neighbors, and in many cases, no husband.

The women and children are directed to gymnasiums and shelters – 20 beds to a room, several rooms to a building, 10-foot-by-10-foot kitchens feed 100 people. In many instances, three bathrooms serve up to 60 people. But not matter; the women and their children are safe. In some cases, it is the grandmother with her grandchildren.

Many of the refugees – they are called guests in Poland – are staying in houses opened to them by the Poles. Such as gracious and compassionate showing by these people. But it has now been more than a year and resources are naturally growing thin in this poorer nation. Longer term solutions need to be developed, as they now have nothing.