My father shares how he survived scarcity in a prisoner of war camp “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? … your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” - Matthew 6:25, 32 NIV In our global pandemic, anxiety has driven people to an epidemic of hoarding. Can we really trust that we will always have enough? Perhaps we can learn from the past when others faced serious challenges. That led me to share a new video of my father telling how he endured starvation in a prisoner of war camp, with some surprising help. My own challenges putting food on the table seem insignificant in comparison, but perhaps some will relate. Did you ever imagine that we’d run out of toilet paper? Some even resold hoarded supplies for a profit, which has now been banned. My brother brought me a care package when I told him I was low. He included four tins of diced tomatoes, also in short supply locally. What a gift of love, supplied from a social distance of two meters in my garden! When our prime minister, Justin Trudeau, asked everyone to help by staying home, I took it to heart. Staying home keeps down the community spread of this new contagious disease. My self-isolation took me back to online grocery orders, which I first did when laid up last fall. Now with Amazon Prime, some items arrived the next day, but many were unavailable. Canned beans were out of stock. A favourite brand of flax seeds was sold out. Some items like canned pumpkin and rice cakes were expected weeks later. When I ordered fresh fruit and vegetables from Walmart last fall, they arrived the next day. Now the delivery was twelve days later. Delivery services everywhere are overwhelmed. Even veterinary supplies were challenging. It was nearly a week before prescription cat food arrived. For social distancing, I prepaid over the phone, and called the vet office after I parked nearby. The receptionist placed my order outside the door to pick up after she was back inside. A local pet supply store kindly offered similar measures. I prepaid over the phone and called when I arrived. The owner delivered a bag of cat litter to my open trunk while I waved my thanks from inside the vehicle. Save-On-Foods apparently offered similar pickup services, but there were no open slots. Their website stated that demand was so high for pickup and delivery, they asked anyone who could come into the store to do so. So much for social distancing! But my food supplies were dwindling. I’d gone through nearly all of the fresh fruit and vegetables bought two weeks before, and my scheduled delivery was still days away. I really needed canned pumpkin for my cat. Adding some to her food reduces constipation, but I had run out a couple of weeks before. When Cassie struggled painfully (and stinkily) one morning, I nearly had to take her to the vet. But eventually she seemed somewhat recovered and I started her on a veterinary probiotic from an earlier cat (thank you Kringle). Adding to anxiety about dwindling supplies was that some cleaning products shipped separately by Walmart were said to have been delivered, but never arrived! Talking with friends helped. They were going into grocery stores, which they said were relatively empty, while people were quite good about social distancing. All things pointed to leaving the house for that needed pumpkin for Cassie. I usually avoid shopping on Sunday, using it as a day of rest, but this call was strong enough to break that tradition. I arrived at about 9:30 a.m., parking with a couple of spaces between me and the next vehicle, as many others were doing. As I entered the store with a cart, a woman waited while I got organized before she walked past at a good distance. I quickly pulled out my shopping list, pen and reading glasses. My habit of using my own pen to mark bulk items was practical now. The store was busier than I’d have liked. Many tried to keep two meters between us, but not all. One young man plowed past me down an aisle as if this were the time before COVID-19. Aisles were too narrow to allow two meters between people. When others passed within two or three feet, I tried looking the other way to avoid the virus. I’m told an IGA in Valemount, B.C. has made all the aisles one way for foot traffic, an inspired measure addressing this problem. But I found the pumpkin, and was able to stock up on many needed items; even replacement cleaning products, while extending forgiveness for the missed delivery. Some items like flour and yeast were unavailable. A few lonely sticks of butter were marked at an unusually high price. I may end up buying margarine again if this keeps up. The tills at the self-checkout section were reduced to four to allow more distance between customers. One elderly gentleman approached too closely and complained about not seeing. Finally they realized that he needed a proper till and redirected him. A security guard wished me well on the way out of the store. She melted when I thanked her for her work. These essential workers are risking their own health. A grocery store worker in Oshawa, Ontario died this week after contracting COVID-19. He was in his 40s. Back at home, I washed my hands carefully after putting everything away. I also used hand sanitizer in the car. It was there to wash the fuel smell from my hands after fuelling up; now it’s finding another purpose. The next day the Walmart order arrived, with several items missing owing to product shortages. It was nothing like the large delivery I was expecting. A friend in Prince George hasn’t seen empty shelves for things like flour that we have here. She gets groceries at 7 a.m. after the store has been fully disinfected and has few customers. She never touches the handle of a grocery cart but uses gloves which she washes afterwards. Door handles are also never touched. These techniques were from her mother, who recalled the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. If we are alive today, it is because others were survivors. We’ll get through this too. And for those few who don’t, while we will grieve them or others will grieve us, we can rest in the faith of a future reunion with all our loved ones. Know that our love never dies. When the worst is not to be feared, what is there to fear? Hoarding is a symptom of anxiety. How do we keep anxiety levels at bay? I find these methods helpful:
My father endured two periods in his life when food was so scarce that he actually suffered from starvation. In 1932, Ukraine’s grain producers had such high quotas that they couldn’t keep enough to feed their families. He gathered weeds and grasses for his mother to make soup, and caught field mice to eat. The second time was in 1945 when my father was captured in World War II and imprisoned in an unsheltered field for three months. Thousands of prisoners surrounded by barbed wire were given next to nothing to eat and only a cup of river water to drink each day. In his early days there, he received unexpected provisions that helped him to survive. He was taken out of the camp, which usually signalled a coming execution. Instead, he was taken to an apartment, where he was asked to haul water and dust some equipment. While he was working, the officer cooked a meal and drew a bath for him. Before leaving for the prison camp, the officer gave him a wool coat filled with tinned food and cheese in every pocket, which my father shared with other prisoners. And the gift of a wool blanket provided cover for him and his friend John Wiens when spring rains fell relentlessly. He survived. We can survive this time, in our beautiful country, our beautiful world, with so much plentiful food. Let’s be grateful, take only what we need and share what we have with others in need. Irene Plett Topics: COVID-19, starvation, World War II, hoarding, groceries, food My father shares how his family survived famine in 1932-34 Ukraine
4 Comments
Ruth
3/30/2020 08:49:29 pm
A powerful and well-told story. Your father’s memory continues to amaze me. You have provided a gift to many of us by filming your father as he recounts his past. Thank you!
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Maricruz Alvarado
4/17/2020 06:10:38 pm
Thank you Irene, it is a blessing to hear Opa telling his histories. It is really a blessing that we get to know him and how God has kept him all this years. Blessings
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WriterIrene Plett is a writer, poet and animal lover living in South Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Categories
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