Natalia Yuri Zavadskaya

Dr. Natalia Y. Zavadskaya of Charlottesville, Va., died suddenly on February 19th, 2022. She was 66 years old. Natalia is survived by her husband of 40 years, Dr. Vladimir A. Kryzhanovski; two daughters, Dr. Irina (Era) V. Kryzhanovskaya of San Francisco, Ca., and Elena V. Kryzhanovskaya of Charlottesville, Va.; three grandchildren: Sasha, Andreas, and Matthew; a younger sister, Dr. Olga Y. Zavadskaya of Kiev, Ukraine; other relatives; and many friends. Natalia was a beautiful, gentle, yet strong and wise woman. She brought love, joy, support, and extraordinary kindness to every life she touched. A private service will be held at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association in her name.

Memories, Written by: Sasha Kryzhanovskaya

Death - a concept so hard to perceive

How someone could be here one second and be gone the next

An inhale

Without a final exhale

To never see their smile

or to hear their laugh

or their sweet voice

Ever again

Only through memories

And videos

Photos

But it’s not the same

To think of them is hard

Sometimes you smile

To remember the remarkable life they had

or sometimes you cry

A deep internal pain no one can describe

You feel

Delirious

Alone

Choked

But those words don’t describe it well

Trying to forget

And to tell yourself

They are still here

Don’t worry

We’ll see them tomorrow

You’re wrong and that’s not true

Forgetting is easy

Realizing is difficult

To realize they are gone

Away

Never to be seen again

How a life could be so quickly taken

Without warning

Without question

Without a single last goodbye

To think it’s a heavy burden and how god hates you and only wants the worst for you

That’s not true

But you think it is

You think your life is over

Paused

Stopped in time

And you wonder how everyone else is fine

The people outside doing there doing their daily walk

The cars passing by singing along to a song

How their world is nice

But how mine is going through an earthquake

One that will never end

Just get smaller

And smaller

Until it’s only a small rumble in time

You would do anything to spend another day with them

Anything

But the days are gone

The minutes

Seconds

Gone

All you have now are memories