Of all of Liliia’s roles: Ukrainian, chef, employee, mother, it’s her title of “babusya” or Grandmother that gives her the most joy.
Liliia’s son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters came to Minnesota following the Russian invasion of their homeland in 2021. Liliia felt torn about fleeing her country, but the pull toward her granddaughters directed her path.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to leave Ukraine, it’s the best place on Earth,” said Liliia.
If I hadn’t left, I probably never would have seen my children and granddaughters again. I want to see them grow up and rejoice in their successes.”
She may not speak fluent English yet, but when talking about her granddaughters’ achievements, she speaks “doting grandmother” perfectly.
“My 12-year-old granddaughter is a gymnast and is the best student at school,” beamed Liliia.
Liliia has her own talents that she brought with her to Minnesota, including the ability to bake decadent desserts. Liliia worked closely with an employment counselor named Kayla at Arrive Ministries, who assisted her in landing a job as a chef at a local nursing home. The nursing home employs people from many different countries and hosted a competition for its staff to cook cuisine from their home country.
“I agreed to make a traditional Ukrainian cake called the “Kievskiy” that everyone liked,” said Liliia.
They liked it so much that Liliia won the competition, and was asked to bake her famous kievskiy cake for all 200 residents.
I love to cook and bake, but I only did it at home. I never thought that it would become my profession in America.”
She gives Kayla a lot of credit for empowering her to advance her career path, “Kayla believed in me and convinced me to believe in myself. She surrounded me with her positivity, helped me communicate with the heads of companies, and instilled in me hope that everything would work out.”
I am very grateful to her, we are queens, strong ladies as they say in Ukraine.”
Liliia also connected with Arrive’s Ukrainian case manager after learning about our organization’s services.
“Life began to change for the better after meeting with the staff at Arrive Ministries. I am very grateful for their understanding and support.”
One year after arriving in Minnesota, Liliia has set a couple of very achievable goals for herself, in addition to a lofty dream for the world.
“I’m 63 years old, I don’t set big goals for myself, but I will learn to speak English, and I want to improve in my profession. Most importantly, I want everyone to have a peaceful sky above their heads, to have loved ones alive and well,” said Liliia.
This babusya has a lot of hard-earned wisdom to share with the next generation.
I have learned that no matter what, you need to believe and move forward. You can’t live in the past, you need to be able to close the door and move forward. The road will be mastered by the one who walks.”
