When Yuliia Stakh, a freshman at Livingston High School, earned a spot on the varsity tennis team, in September – defeating her opponent in third singles – she had been in the U.S. only a couple of months, and had not touched a racket for six months.Yuliia, her seven-year-old brother, Andrii, and her mother, Viktoriya, left Ukraine in March. Husband and father Nazar remains in Ukraine. He works for a volunteer organization that assists the military in getting supplies.“We talk to my father every day; every day, we miss him,” said Yuliia.“We want to see Nazar, but have to wait until the sky is open, when the war is finished and when a man can travel,” said Viktoriya.Their conversation with the Tribune was punctuated with updates about the Russian attacks on Ukraine. “Today is not a good day,” said Yuliia on Monday. Russia had just unleashed its most widespread strikes yet against Ukraine.Mother and daughter found “happy places” in their Livingston home, where they can leave the war behind them temporarily.The LHS tennis team is Yuliia’s happy place in town, and she is grateful to the coaches, Elliot Lovi and Amanda Buyes, and her teammates.Mom’s happy place is the Livingston Library. This summer she made oil pictures, watched movies, and studied English. “Miss Cara is a super teacher!”Andrii, too, went to the library every day, reading to the service dogs and doing different workshops. He is a second grader at Hillside School.“The library has the kindest people!” Viktoriya said.Getting HereMonths before the war began, in July, 2021, the family had moved to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, from Lviv, a city in western Ukraine.“We started a new life for our family, we were happy,” said Viktoriya. She worked as a trainer in the center of the city, and Nazar was a flight attendant.“But every day we saw the news about Russia, Russia, Russia. We can’t believe that a war is starting. It’s the 21st century.”“My father decided it was too dangerous to stay in Kyiv,” said Yuliia. “A week before the war started, my father, brother and I returned to Lviv. We lived with my grandmother.”Viktoriya remained in Kyiv for work, and cared for the family cat.“The war started on 24 February, 4 a.m., 25 minute,” she said, searching for the right words in English, a language she is currently learning. “I remember that moment...” She paused, searching for how ...
