Dear Dr. Volodymyr,

You have no idea how much I wish I could tell you this in person. But here we are, and it has been three years since you left us. We are still extremely saddened and our hearts are still broken, while I find myself thinking of you often. How can I not? You were such a healing presence in my and my husband’s life for so many years. Approximately 20 years.

I think about you not only for the amazing healing you have blessed us with, but also for the holistic education you had always instilled in us. Whenever I hear about free radicals, the gut microbiome, detoxification, etc., I always think back to when you were teaching us about this, many years ago. The medical world has finally caught up to you. I always knew you were ahead of your time and current days prove this to be true.

Your tireless dedication to move beyond the symptom and get to the root cause of the dis-ease, has made a world of difference in our healing over the years. This has also taught us that this is actual healing, not what the current medical world practices. I can literally see you now, shaking your head up and down while saying “yes,” as you had done so many times in the past.

You have left such a lasting impression on us with all of your medical knowledge and education. We continue to practice today what you have taught us long ago. We will never forget and always be grateful to you, for all the healing you have given us, as well as everything you have taught us.

You have always gone above and beyond. Not only for us but for all of your patients, as we have witnessed many, many times. We are truly saddened that so much more healing and learning will no longer be experienced, now that you are gone.

Your work here is done now and you are with all the Angels above. You are missed much, much more than you know. You will be forever in our hearts.

Rest in eternal peace, Dr. Volodymyr.

Love always,
Tracey & Frank

We’d go out for a drive to Cliff’s, your favorite homemade ice cream place, Dad. You loved it so much and always looked forward to going there.

You always ordered the same — your favorite ice cream sundae. Hard vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and a cherry.

Then it was back to your room to watch TV and reminisce about your past.

What I wouldn’t give. If only … just one more time.

Literally right now, I am sitting here at the hospital waiting for my husband to complete his 2 MRI’s.

ALL the memories and thoughts, ALL of them:

* the drive here
* the parking
* the delicious smell of chocolate from M&M Mars
*. the entrance
*. the cafe
*. the hallway
*. the elevator, etc …

of my Dad are flooding back to me. You see, just over 3 years ago I was bringing my Dad here for his radiation treatments 5 days a week for 6 weeks; until fu***n COVID killed him! He was doing just fine!!

What I wouldn’t give to bring him here again and be with him just one more time.

If you ever needed to find my husband Mike when he would go MIA —— two places to look. In winter it was Barnes and Noble and now that it is summer it would be at the Swim Club. There, Mike came alive. He and his swimming cronies would take over a few lanes to do laps. But mostly they would hang by the side of the pool talking about what they did over the winter.

When I see some of these people they still say how much they miss Mike, being in his lane, doing the breaststroke.

Ray loved Halloween; it was one of his favorite holidays. We would decorate our house (trail of terror) with a graveyard and bones and he would be the sound effects director. He bought a CD of spooky sounds and would blast it in our window of his office on the second floor. He would also take the day off to trick or treat with our nieces and nephew.

So, when two of our nieces were about 5 or 6, they went around our neighborhood to trick or treat. One of our neighbors was dressed as Jason, complete with a chainsaw! He was chained to the garage and scaring the kids, including our niece, Toria. She didn’t want to trick or treat after that. Ray tried to explain that it was fake and would never hurt her but she wasn’t convinced.

He would always find something to add to our Halloween decor and this time, he found a giant spider. It had moving legs and lit up. He called Toria to come over and set it up in our living room. She came up and saw it, moving with the lights, and fell in love. Ray asked her what she thought of him and she said, “his name is Spot.” So, Spot the Spider became our focal point of our decorations. She went out trick or treating and I’m proud to say that she is a regular performer at our local haunted walkthrough. She loves it!

We lost him in 2020 and the next year, I took off Halloween to continue the tradition in his honor. I put up the decorations and Toria asked me “Where’s Spot? We need him.” I smiled and told her he was in the attic in a bag. She went up, took him out, fixed his legs and once again, Spot ruled our display. He does not work the way he used to but he is a treasured part of Halloween and a connection to Ray. When I see Spot, I see my husband again. At least, it feels like he is still here with us, even for a day.