I’ve heard you can’t recover from traumatic incidents until you are safe. The car accident survivor can’t process the event while he is bleeding on the roadway with broken bones and a concussion. The woman in a domestic violence situation can’t heal until she leaves her abuser. Victims of war can’t thrive while bombs are still falling around them.
Our family evacuated from Ukraine to Hungary on the second day of the full-scale war. We’ve been living in Budapest since March 2022. It’s safe. There are no air-raid sirens. No explosions. No war planes. No threat of aerial attack. We’ve been here for over three years. In safety. We’ve rebuilt our lives. We’ve helped others do the same. Our children have bright prospects.
But the wounds of war still feel immediate. You’d think after so long, they would be healed. There would be scars, but we wouldn’t still be bleeding. Why does everything still feel so raw? If we are safe, why aren’t we recovering faster?