SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

I remember. 

It was similar with toys. When his friends came to visit, he invited them to play, offering them his toys. He was especially considerate towards those younger than himself, to whom he was happy to lend his favourite toys, even if it meant that for the time being he had to play with toys he didn't like quite as much.

Jan from Prekmurja is now fully grown up, being twenty-four years old. He has not given up on kind deeds, as he still loves to share. Sometimes he cooks dinner for everyone present. Sometimes he arrives with a bag of goodies and distributes them among everyone. This habit of his, which is a rarity these days, he continues to maintain.

A while ago, when I was on holiday in Prekmurje, it also surprised me immensely. Since I don't drive, I arrived home by bus. When my holiday came to an end and I should have slowly set off back to Ljubljana (by bus or train, of course), I started to get a bit worried about how I would manage my holdall and the goodies that my family had packed for me, all by myself Pritrajbala home. 

On the last day, when I was already searching for bus connections to Ljubljana on my phone, Jan came up to me and said: »My godmother, don't look for anything. You'll hop into my car and I'll drive you to Ljubljana along with your gear, and then I'll stay there for a day or so to get some rest from the folks at home,« he joked.

Oho, just imagine how this lad surprised and delighted me at that moment. And so it was. He loaded my things into the car and we set off on our journey. Along the way, I asked him why he had decided to help me, and he said to me: »Because I felt sorry for you, having to carry all that heavy stuff back and forth by yourself otherwise.« I patted him on the shoulder and thanked him for such a kind deed. He replied: »Don't mention it, godmother. Anytime!« He stayed with me for another day, and then returned to the lovely Prekmurje region. And those words of his and come back again have also come true. 

I am proud of these young people of ours, who still have a sense for kind deeds that can truly make someone happy. I am grateful that my nephew Jan is also among them.

Jožica Kous, 6 Sept 2026