All Chapters of A Little Empathy Is All We Need: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

 Fortunately, here in the Netherlands I decided not to become a customer of a nursing service, but to have the money from the health insurance transferred directly to my account so that I could look for my own nursing staff. And I liked that very much! A little fresher and more lively, I continued to tell my life story in a relaxed manner after the short break. ›Do you actually see your life as a punishment?‹, Grandma suddenly asked me on this evening, when we were talking about the most diverse religions, and tore me out of my deliberations as to whether the strict, intense belief in a God makes people made superficial. ›No, definitely not!‹ I answered promptly. ›I love my life down to the smallest detail. I am grateful anew every day that I live and may be on this earth. But sometimes it makes me sad to be loved so little by my sisters. I still get the feeling of envy fro

Involuntarily, I thought of Finn, who always tried to find some excuse for the ugly or strange behavior of others. This had made me really mad in earlier times. Yes, I believed that people who behaved impossibly and conspicuously were to blame for their situation and could change from one moment to the next. But gradually I understood that all people were born “neutral”. Even the cruelest mass murderer! Every human and every animal began at some point to reflect what had happened to them during their life. Some who were mentally unstable and could not deal with the unattractive or even cruel they experienced became so-called "villains". But all that these living beings required was attention, security and understanding. We really lived too far past each other. And most of all, it was just not possible for us to listen to each other and to put ourselves in the other person's shoes. Otherwise there would not be so many desperate and sad people who sometimes did very ugly o

Then suddenly the night came when Ellie and I left for China. At exactly nine o'clock, Elena stood in front of my bed and woke me from a deep but short sleep. Completely sleepy, I looked up at her and yawned heartily. Quickly and skilfully, as my grandmother could, she dressed me, then sat me in my wheelchair and brushed my teeth. ›How is it that witches have a mirror image and vampires, for example, don't?‹ I suddenly asked aloud into the bathroom, as I looked at Ellie and myself in the mirror. ›I don't know exactly either,‹ replied my friend. ›Most likely, because they are no longer made of real flesh and blood, but are only souls of the dead who take shape at night.‹ ›Well, vampires aren't that completely bloodless,‹ I replied with one eye, blinking and laughing. ›Because they drink the blood of humans and animals.‹ "Maybe you c

For days I raved and didn't know if I was just dreaming it or if Johanna had actually told me that Finn, my future husband, was a king's son, but couldn't or didn't believe this either. And was it really true that I should tell him that I would have a very heavy responsibility one day? However, I couldn't imagine Finn believing me at all.All of this left me with no peace. I couldn't believe that the most important thing was me. But then it suddenly occurred to me that no one of us could expect Finn to deny himself the role and identity of an alien. So my additional job wasn't planned at all. And this realization made me feel a little milder again.When Emma came to me the evening after next, I tried to lure out of her whether it was actually my second job to make Finn understand who he was and what he had to cope with. To my annoyance, however, it was silent like a grave for the first quarter of an hour. It was only with great effort that I gradually got something out

On an icy night in the last week of January, Janica and I flew to Rome. Only this time we flew in a normal, warm plane. The risk was simply too great that the Vatican would discover our true identity when we traveled our brooms.We found accommodation in the apartment of a nun who lived just outside the Vatican. The apartment was bright, cozy and looked like a normal 3-room apartment. Oddly enough, I had imagined it to be a little different. There was just a cross with Jesus hanging in the living room. Fortunately, the nun's apartment was quite spacious and easily accessible with an elevator. And since Janica and I had traveled in a comfortable plane this time, I was able to take my actual wheelchair with me. I am not at all familiar with the life of a nun or a monk, I mentally apologized to the nun. I thought that in the apartment of a Christian nun or a Christian monk there are many more pictures of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and crosses and that you can recognize their strict