The heartbreaking pain of Ukrainian mothers

Every morning the same silence greets me. A silence that isn’t the sound of peace… but of absence.

There used to be laughter in this room. Children’s laughter. The kind of sound that fills a person’s heart with life and makes them believe the world can still be beautiful.

Now only dust falls from the shelf when I touch his toys. The little car he got for his birthday. His favorite stuffed animal he always took with him, the one he held even in his sleep.

The warmth of his hand is still inside me. The sparkle in his eyes… as if he were still looking at me.

They say time heals all wounds.

But how does someone heal after losing the center of their own world?

How can you keep breathing when every breath forces you to feel the pain again and again?

They say you “have to be strong.”

But what’s the point of strength when there’s no one left to be strong for?

He wasn’t a hero. Just a little boy who loved chocolate, snowfall, and fairy tales.

He didn’t understand what war was. He just got scared when he heard the sirens.

I told him everything would be okay.

I lied.

And now that lie burns through my soul every day.

It all happened in a moment. A flash. A sound you can never forget.

The earth shook, the windows shattered, and my world… ceased to exist.

Since then, every day is the same: I try to wake up, but the days collapse into one another like the ruins that remained of our home.

I don’t want to hate.

But when I see the images, the news, the flags, the people searching for explanations…

all I feel is this: nothing will bring my son back. Nothing.

There will be no more birthdays, no more drawings on the table, no more smiles he left for me.

And yet, every night I light a candle.

Not because I hope. But because I want to remember.

So his name won’t disappear in the noise, among the numbers the world reacts to with a shrug.

He wasn’t a “civilian casualty.” He was my son.

My everything.

And as long as I live, his voice, his smile, his existence will not fade.

Because in a mother’s heart, not even death can silence a child.

Beáta Héder

The Transcarpathia for a Free Ukraine Charity Foundation focuses on collecting and delivering targeted, personalized support to the front, as well as providing psychological assistance to wounded soldiers and to families who have lost loved ones due to the full-scale invasion launched by the Russian Federation. If you wish to support their work, you may do so through any of the options below. Thank you! Those who help, save lives!