My Friend John Messer's Letters from Ukraine

 

I have been blessed with some of the best friends on God's green earth.

There's nothing I love more than bragging on my friends.

Talented, smart, funny, committed, loyal, curious, and kind.  Those are a few of the words that kinda sum up characteristics they have in common.

John Messer is all of these things and so much more.

I met him back in the 70s.  He was dating a good friend of mine.  I was going through a divorce.

John and his then partner, Michael, became part of a family I chose - and was lucky enough to have them choose me, shelter me, feed me.

I knew I was always welcome at their door, no matter the day, or the time.

They hosted glorious dinner parties, introduced me to the symphony, live theater, fine restaurants.

There were raucous times as well which included crazy wild clothes, make-up, bright lights and dancing.

Vacations at the beach, trips to the mountains, hot tub nights.  

If I wasn't able to get home to Maryland for holidays, I knew I could count at a place at their table for birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas.  If my Mom and Dad made it to Atlanta for those holidays, they were included around the table.  They knew I was in good hands with John Messer; they loved him as if he were a son.

Over the years things changed, of course.

But John was still there.  We became separated by miles as we moved away from Atlanta, but the strong ties will always remain.  We may not chat as often as we once did, but I have never ever for one minute stop believing that he's there if I need him.

My Dad died before I met Donald, so John was the one walk me down the aisle when Donald and I got married.  He hosted our wedding reception.

He flew into Atlanta to host the memorial service for my mom.

And he has lived life to the fullest more than anyone I know.

He's a world traveler.  He's always learning new things whether it might be photography lessons, wine classes, piano lessons, yoga, cooking classes including following his dream of becoming a Cordon Bleu Culinary School graduate.

And he volunteers.  Lordy, does he volunteer.

He has always volunteered his time and energy to causes he believes in.  From being central to the opening of a home for AIDS patients in Atlanta to his current on-going activities of  volunteering his time as a chef for not-for-profit fundraisers, ESOL instructor for immigrants living in the state of Maine, Board Member of an immigrant advocacy not-for-profit in Maine, and a volunteer in refugee camps in the EU.

I never know where his next note might arrive from - India where he's visiting orphanages where he's feeding and teaching children.  Greece where he's working with refugees.  Or, most lately, Poland, where he is once again working with refugees.  

He has agreed to allow me to share some of his notes and photos.

  WITH APOLOGIES for some pretty awful formatting issues that I take partial blame for and blame the rest on Blogger.  I did try to remove some of the repeats, but then more than I wanted to remove would also disappear. 

If photos don't load, try refreshing the page. If they still won't load <sigh> my apologies.  Enjoy the notes.

And thanks for stopping by!

And now . . .  Here's John!

 

Dear family: 

Day One: Arrived last night in Warsaw, 25 hours after catching the bus in Portland to Boston Logan, checked in, drank Polish vodka, went to sleep. Beautiful mid-size hotel.  The building was originally the residence of a well to do Jewish family.. built in 1903…..it’s not clear what happened to the family during the war.  The Allied forces bombed it in 1944…the Polish government took it over after the war…restored it and converted it into a Polish Socialist Government building.  In the 1970’s, the original family sued and recovered the property.  

Got up early and had the best scrambled eggs ever.  They were almost orange.  I asked the young man at the front desk if he had any ideas on where I might go to volunteer with the Ukrainian refugees.  He stared into space for a long pregnant moment and then replied, “I have no idea.”  So I left the hotel and walked about 2 miles to the PGE Norodowy Stadium, the largest soccer stadium in the EU, where many of the Ukrainian refugees in the city are living.  I kept asking around and knocking on office doors until I found the World Central Kitchen food trucks, and, with the help of Google Translator, was able to meet the site manager, Adam, whose English was pretty good.  He said he didn’t need anymore volunteers, but he gave me the name and phone number of one of the World Central Kitchen Country Managers in Poland.  I went to some other food trucks at the stadium and left several cards. I felt a bit like some guy out of work knocking on doors…which was ok.  By the time I walked back to my hotel, I was frozen and jet lagged, so I crashed for several hours.

When I awoke, I texted the country manager for WCK and headed out by foot to the Central Rail Station.  There I was interviewed and asked to come back at 6 pm to work the 6 to midnight shift in a “gastro tent".  But then I got a text from Kate, the WCK country manager.  She said they had just posted openings at their main kitchen (read: industrial strength kitchen) at the border in Przemyśl, pronounced SHEH-muh-shl….so I jumped online and grabbed slots through Sunday, April 10th….flying home on the 11th.

Checked out of the hotel, got a cab to the car rental office…waited an hour to speak to someone who told me that they had no cars…even though I had a reservation.  Oy. By then it was 5 pm, and I had a 4 1/2 hour drive to my hotel in Rzeszów (pronounced JHA-shov) as there are no rooms in Przemyśl.  I was pissed, cold and hangry so I went back to my hotel and re-checked in.  Will pick up an Avis rental at the airport in the morning and head out.

I don’t imagine that I will be sending detailed emails each day as each day is an 11 hour shift, and Rzeszów is one hour away from Przemyśl…but I will send photos and much love.

More later.

  

Day 3….my team was charged with two tasks…making 5,000 sandwiches and coring and slicing one ton of apples.  I was asked if I would wash the apples.  “Sure”…turns out this entailed dumping each crate into a large strainer, washing it with a powerful water hose, shaking the water out and schleping it each persons station to keep them supplied with apples.  My back is sore.

Above, Chef Hoyos

Don’t none of you bitches complain about washing dishes no more.

2,000 and counting...

bacon and chicken soup

More later… these days are long…11 hours in the kitchen and a one hour drive each way.

Day 4

Sorry for the lack of emails.  I am so exhausted when I get to my apartment at night, I can barely get the beer to my mouth before I fall asleep.  But every morning I awake with all the energy in the world…I can’t remember such a sustained “high” in my life.  I fell like pinching myself.  Here I am with about 100 strangers, and suddenly everyone is best friends, cooperating and working towards a common goal….. to feed cold, traumatized, displaced persons from Ukraine. 

So many stories, not so many photos.  I will sit her with my 12 inch tall mug of beer and send a few photos a few at a time with a caption for each in a couple of successive emails.  Sorry, but they are not going to be in any necessary order.  Here we go…..

The weather….dear heavens…the weather has been so horrible.  

It is either really cold and pouring down rain or even colder and snowing.  

And while most people are coming across the eight crossings into Poland by bus, 

many come by foot…with luggage and children and occasionally a dog.

The housing situation is absolutely insane here in Przemyśl…

as one can imagine.  One of the major freeways connecting 

Ukraine and Poland is just north of this city of 60,000.  

I have been bouncing around from apartment to apartment…

whatever I can find on a daily basis.  All of these buildings have been 

around for such a long, long time.  And I am overwhelmed by the 

sense of all the Jewish families who lived in these apartments when 

the Eisenstadtgruppe first marched through when Hitler broke his 

promise in the Molotov Agreement not to attack Russia….

the Final Solution had just been settled upon and Operation 

Barbarossa had just begun.  The city had about 40,000 people at the 

time, and 17,000 of them were Jews.  I keep thinking of the 

Jewish families sitting terrified and worried in these apartments 

where I am staying.. that that knock would come on the door….

and then it did.  Of the 17,000, only about 100 survived.  

And the Jews did not come back.  

Poland is practically devoid of Jewish communities today.

On Apr 1, 2022, at 9:43 PM, John Messer  wrote:

Wonderful day working with lots of different chefs.

 

On Sunday I’ll be moving to the town where I work, cutting out 2 hours of

 

driving each day.

The town where I work has a wonderful piece of history. 

When the Einsatzgruppe made their first attempt to round up the

 

Jews of the town at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa,

 

a German officer stop them, blocking their way across a bridge….

 

alleging that he must keep them as laborers…saving many lives.  

 

Yad Vashem named him Righteous Among Nations.

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John Messer	Apr 5, 2022, 2:53 PM (21 hours ago)
to

Quite a few of the volunteers that are here have some sort to 

Ukrainian or Polish connection through their families.  

The woman with the short black hair, Tanya, was born in 

Kharkiv, Ukraine…after her Bubbie died, her family moved 

to the U.S.  She’s been back here since the bombing started 

working for World Central Kitchen (WCK).  

Today, she pulled a team together to chop cabbage, beets, 

carrots, potatoes, etc. and make her sweet Bubbie’s recipe 

for borscht.  It was a dream for her.  

She was  meticulous is the size of the cut of the vegetables…

to the point of driving the head Chef meshuga.  

She had to get it right.  

We had cooked and separated large hunks of beef, 

fat and grizzle the night before…so she had the perfect 

beef broth.  It was just beyond fabulous.

The gal I am hugging above is my new BFF…..

Rachel, a private chef from Bozeman, Montana.  She is a piece of work.  

Single Mom of two grown boys.  

John Messer

On Apr 5, 2022, at 8:37 PM, John Messer  wrote:

This is a bcc email.

Sorry for the lack of emails.  I am so exhausted when I get

 

to myapartment at night, I can barely get the beer to my mouth

 

before I fall asleep.  But every morning I awake with all the

 

energy in the

 World…I can’t remember such a sustained “high” in

 my life. 

 I fell like pinching myself.  Here I am with about

 100 strangers, and 

suddenly everyone is best friends, cooperating and

 working towards a 

common goal….. to feed cold, traumatized, displaced

 persons from 

Ukraine. 

So many stories, not so many photos.  I will sit her with my 12 inch

 

tall mug of beer and send a few photos a few at a time with a

 

caption for each in a couple of successive emails.

 

 Sorry, but they are not going to be in any necessary order.  

 

Here we go…..

John Messer

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The weather….dear heavens…the weather has been so horrible.  

 

It is either really cold and pouring down rain or even colder and

 

snowing.  And while most people are coming across the eight

 

crossings into Poland by bus, many come by foot…

 

with luggage and children and occasionally a dog.

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John Messer	Apr 5, 2022, 2:59 PM (21 hours ago)
to

The French are coming….Macron sent his personal chef 

(in selfie below with me….I am such a famous chef groupie) and about 

7 other chefs along with several trailers of frozen food that went on

 the L’viv….

Sweet Jesus… I so hope there was no foie gras in the trailers.

famous French chefs peeling carrots

Famous French chefs coring apples for baby food...

And me and Macron’s main man

On Apr 5, 2022, at 8:37 PM, John Messer  wrote:

This is a bcc email.

Sorry for the lack of emails.  I am so exhausted when I get to my

 

apartment at night, I can barely get the beer to my mouth before

 

I fall asleep.  But every morning I awake with all the energy in the

 

world…I can’t remember such a sustained “high” in my life.

 

 I fell like pinching myself.  Here I am with about 100 strangers,

 

and suddenly everyone is best friends, cooperating and working

 

towards a common goal….. to feed cold, traumatized, displaced

 

persons from Ukraine. 

So many stories, not so many photos.  I will sit her with my 12 inch

 

tall mug of beer and send a few photos a few at a time with a

 

caption for each in a couple of successive emails.  

 

Sorry, but they are not going to be in any necessary order.  

 

Here we go…..

John Messer

<IMG_5462.jpeg>

The weather….dear heavens…the weather has been so horrible.  

 

It is either really cold and pouring down rain or even colder and

 

snowing.  And while most people are coming across the eight

 

crossings into Poland by bus, many come by foot…

 

with luggage and children and occasionally a dog.

<IMG_5520.jpeg>

<IMG_5474.jpeg>

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John Messer	Apr 5, 2022, 3:11 PM (21 hours ago)
to

Yesterday afternoon, the Head Chef, Chef Karla Hoyos…

(SLL Miami Beach….works for Chef José Andrés)… 

and I went to the border to check on the locations… 

we stopped at what used to be a shopping mall in Przemyśl 

and is now housing refugees on wall to wall cots…

there were children playing everywhere, classrooms, medical offices, 

food facilities, etc.  Then we went on the the border… it was surreal….

once they get off the buses or walk through in the freezing cold, 

they are quickly processed and come into what is a camp of sorts…

there are streets lined with NFP’s and NGO’s welcoming them with food, 

hot chocolate, tea and coffee, clothes, luggage, tents to warm up in, 

clothes, blankets…it felt like a weekend art’s fair with all the side by 

side booths…

but the booths were there to take care of these people…..

there was a place for them to sleep and then be moved out by buses 

for other cities where they could stay.  

Karla and I were allowed to walk through the border to Ukraine 

to check on the WCK location just on the other side of the border.

Everyone comes through this gate into the camp.

On Apr 5, 2022, at 8:37 PM, John Messer wrote:

This is a bcc email.

Sorry for the lack of emails.  I am so exhausted when I get to my

 

apartment at night, I can barely get the beer to my mouth before

 

I fall asleep.  But every morning I awake with all the energy in the

 

world…I can’t remember such a sustained “high” in my life.  I fell

 

like pinching myself.  Here I am with about 100 strangers, and

 

suddenly everyone is best friends, cooperating and working

 

towards a common goal….. to feed cold, traumatized, displaced

 

persons from Ukraine. 

So many stories, not so many photos.  I will sit her with my 12

 

inch tall mug of beer and send a few photos a few at a time with a

 

caption for each in a couple of successive emails.  Sorry, but they

 

are not going to be in any necessary order.  Here we go…..

John Messer

<IMG_5462.jpeg>

The weather….dear heavens…the weather has been so horrible.  

 

It is either really cold and pouring down rain or even colder and

 

snowing.  And while most people are coming across the eight

 

crossings into Poland by bus, many come by foot…with luggage

 

and children and occasionally a dog.

<IMG_5520.jpeg>

<IMG_5474.jpeg>

<IMG_5517.jpeg>

John Messer	Apr 5, 2022, 3:23 PM (21 hours ago)
to

And food, food, glorious food….by the ton.

 This team makes 5,000 sandwiches a day.

My new friend Lucy and a Polish reporter

My new buddy, Jamie, cutting bread pudding.   

Lots and lots of bread pudding so as to not waste all the bread that

 goes stale.

Yesterday, Rachel and I were told to “go and attack the carrots”…..

I love these two pictures.  We cored and cut the apples, steamed the 

apples, 

puréed the apples with a 3 foot immersion blenders and packages 

them up for all the Ukrainian babies.

On Apr 5, 2022, at 8:52 PM, John Messer  wrote:

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