SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

Not because she's worried I have a handsome head and hair, but because she loves helping others so much.

There was never any question of whether she and her husband would look after their granddaughter. They used to look after each other, and now they also look after their little grandson. There was never any question of whether she would make lunch for both her sons, daughter, daughters-in-law, or son-in-law. She loves them all equally and helps them all as much as she can.

The event for which I am writing this story carries particular weight. At the company where she got a job, she had a colleague named Marjana. They became friends and helped each other with their work, and during breaks, they talked about many things. They confided in each other about entirely female matters; about the difficulties of raising children, about working in the garden, and about other things. Marjana never revealed anything. She never twisted words. She was always a good and trustworthy friend.

One day Marjana came to work in a bad mood. She wasn't in the mood for talking, and even less for joking. But the next day and the day after that, it wasn't any better. Mojca asked her what was bothering her, but she replied briefly that she couldn't help her. As this ill humour dragged on and Mojca kept asking what was causing it, Marjana said one morning, »If my father can't help me, neither can you,« and fell silent.

When Mojca asked her again how she knew she couldn't help her, she said: »My brother and father can't help me either.«

Then, with tears in her eyes, she sat down on a chair and told her what was troubling her: »I've bought a bigger flat than the one my husband and I currently have. This one is really small flat, ,«So I paid a deposit. Now I have to pay in full, and I don't have the money."

»If you tell me how much you need, we might be able to come to an agreement,« Mojca told her.

The sum was large; a little over ten thousand marks, my cousin told me.

»Could I borrow it from you?« I asked.

»It's possible. I had savings in the bank.«

»And how would she pay you back if she didn't have any?« I asked, curious.

»In one year, I will have paid off the bank loan and will be able to take out a new credit then.«

»And you believed her and lent her the money? Just like that? Without a contract?« I smiled.

»It's true. I had some doubts, but I remembered my own difficulties, my parents, and the struggles I knew all too well, so I decided to help her. That I completely trusted her, I've already said.«

I was wondering, and she said: »Believe it or not, she was so happy she could have fainted. She just couldn't believe that I had really lent her the sum she needed.«

As I watched my cousin and thought, I realised why everyone who knows her well loves her.

»Believe it or not, I've had a sister ever since. ’You're my only sister,' she still repeats. She also tries to repay me by inviting us to the sea in Dalmatia to her husband's home. She gladly gives to me, even though I didn't lend her money in her time of need because I expected anything in return. I lent it to her simply because I trusted her. I helped because I could. Money in the bank would make no one happy, but by ending up in the hands of a friend, it wove invisible threads of love among people.

Darinka Kobal, 23 February 2026