SWAMPSCOTT — For some, things like strength and resilience just mean the few occasional hurdles in the path toward peace — but if you ask Eugene Pintail, it sometimes means having the courage to start completely from scratch.
“Before we left, it was a good life. We had our friends and families. Our roots were over there. I had a successful business in interior design, which was growing right before the war began,” he said. “I had some negotiations with new investors to come and join my business — and instead of only design — it had to grow into furniture production.”
He recalled having his own interior design studio. “I loved it, I had lots of clients,” he said. “It was a really big hit for me, and when we left Ukraine, I had to start all over again from scratch.”
According to Pintail, the negotiations for the growth of his business began just days before the war broke out, though the conversations ultimately broke down.
“The thing is, for all my life, I had also been dreaming of moving to the United States. … My dream life was something else, and so in some ways, our move to the U.S. was a dream come true,” he said. “The universe doesn’t always make things happen the way we want them to, but it gives us some obstacles and opportunities to make it the best way possible for us.”
He said back in Ukraine, before everything began, talks had spread of a coming conflict, though he was unsure if it would initially affect life for himself and his family.
“It started back in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea, but for us, we lived away from the front lines — we lived in Odesa — but now I understand how deeply complicated it was, and back in the day, in 2014, I didn’t think about it like war, or that it may grow to what’s going on now,” he recalled.
Pintail explained that after initially leaving Ukraine, he and his family went to Switzerland, where they stayed for 14 months.
“We left the day Russian troops invaded, the same morning,” he explained. “A couple of days before the invasion happened, I didn’t believe it when people talked about war. … I thought, ‘It’s the 21st Century, we are in the center of Europe, nothing’s going to happen.’ But I couldn’t see further than my nose, so-to-speak, so I didn’t dive too deep into the politics of it all.”
When the war started, Pintail called it a moment where he was hit by an epiphany. “It was a revelation, my eyes opened widely, and I looked at things like I hadn’t before,” he said.
“We left Ukraine — myself, my wife and our two kids — and our friends proposed to join them in their car,” he said, recalling how he initially didn’t want a car when he lived back in Ukraine. “But when the war started, it appeared cars aren’t just transportation, it’s your tool to get away from things you don’t want to be around.”
He said when he and his family left Ukraine, they left everything behind minus a bag for clothing and some personal belongings.
He left with family friends before staying a week in Bulgaria, where his sister encouraged him and his family to join her in Switzerland. The trek from Switzerland to Swampscott was a “long journey,” he said.
He continued, saying as soon as he and his family left, “we knew it would not be likely that we’d be going back to Ukraine.
“When I saw all the tanks, SUVs going across the border, I couldn’t believe that kind of thing would end in a few days or months. … Many people thought it would end soon, and this belief broke many souls,” he said. “Even though politicians promised it would not be long.”
Even now, Pintail expressed his doubts that the conflict would end soon. He elaborated on that point, noting that “victory” means drastically different things for the parties involved.
He said he and his family chose Swampscott for a variety of reasons. Aside from the weather, the schools and the scenery, they also had friends who moved to Salem and Marblehead.
“We did research, and we were looking for our children to get a good education,” he said. “The weather here is very much like Ukraine. … We look at it like America started here (in New England), and we’re starting here.”
He said he thinks Swampscott is a great town.
“I like the area. I bike almost every day, I’ll go to Nahant, Marblehead. … Many movies are filmed here, and when you walk around for the first couple of months, you feel like you’re on the set of a movie,” he said. “My kids love it here, too. They both go to schools in the area.”
He noted that he and his wife think highly of the town’s new elementary school. “They have a great building, and we love the teacher,” he said.
Pintail added that he and his wife actively keep in touch with family back home. They also try to keep in touch with friends who have made the journey from Ukraine to America, but he said they’re spread throughout the country in places like New York, Texas and Florida.
He explained how this journey has influenced his outlook on life.
“You understand what you truly are only after you lose everything that you thought you were,” he said. “You’re not your friends, you are not your family, or your country, job or hobby. … You are nothing of that.
“You are just something else, and when you lose it all, this is when you can start asking yourself, ‘What is it that I really am?’ This is the biggest lesson that one can have after going through losses.”
For those who are interested in seeing his artwork, it can be viewed at: https://www.behance.net/pintailsculpture
