Like many of us, the path of my life took me from the green Dolenjska region below the Gorjany Mountains to the white Ljubljana. I came from one world to a whole new world for me.
I was told to be careful. To look after myself. That not all people are good. Not to hang out with strangers and to keep to myself. I know the advice was well-meaning, but it did not fall on deaf ears.
Because I wasn't like that myself, and I've been a teenager for the last year. You are not going to talk sense into me. I think I already know what is good for me. Sometimes I am, sometimes I am not. But it has been like that.
I was the eldest child in my family. It was normal for me to take care of my siblings and come home for the weekends.
And that was true for a while. My hosts would tell me over the phone what I had to bring from Ljubljana. It was not difficult for me. I was happy to return home every weekend, where my two younger sisters were happy to see me.
But sometimes things don't go as planned. She was supposed to go home with an acquaintance again for the weekend, instead of the then popular hitchhiking. This acquaintance had forgotten about me.
It was after 10 pm and I was nervous because I had to go home, because I had medicine for my sister that she needed. And I'm still in Ljubljana.
Nervousness, crying, helplessness, rage.
I had no choice but to persuade my then-named cimra to come with me. We barely caught the last bus to the final stop at Rudnik. And then to look for happiness.
Cars drove past us as if we didn't exist. I raised my finger again, weeping, and hoped for the best. A passing car drives by.
I helplessly drop my hand and cry out loud. But behind me I hear a voice asking us where we are going. I answer and ask if it is going in the same direction. He replies that it is not, but he is happy to take us.
I'm surprised to find my mouth hanging open while the cimra is already pushing me into the car. There were three young girls in the car. Older than us. When I ask them why so late, I give them a quick description of the situation. The driver just told me to get comfortable, enjoy the ride and that I would come home. They got me and my sister home safely.
They didn't want money for petrol, and they said, "We know I would have done the same to you." We said goodbye and the girls drove back to Ljubljana.
We have not seen them again, but the gratitude is still there after all these years, even though it has been 35 years since then.
We are a kind-hearted nation that does not turn away when others are in need.
Mateja Jamnik, 15 Feb 2025
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