SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

I went to visit her in hospital. I was accompanied by a friend who also wanted to visit her classmate, but she had already been discharged. So she accompanied me to the room where Jelka was lying. There I was told that she had died half an hour ago. I could only say goodbye to her. They are doing an echocardiogram to make sure she really died. They let us into the room, and I looked for Jelka's bed with my eyes. It was covered with white sheets, and under it was Jelka, tiny as a baby. I was in shock. Her bright eyes and smile that brightened the days would be swallowed by the darkness.

I wanted to go to the funeral. Unfortunately, I hurt my right knee badly at work, so I didn't know if I would be able to make it. I felt pain with every movement. The feeling that I had to go to the funeral and accompany Jelka on her last journey took over. I could not leave her in her last moments. I wondered how to get to the cemetery in Celje where Jelka would be buried.

That's when my neighbour kindly offered to help me Marjana Marguč. "I'll come with you," she said with a smile and compassion in her eyes. "Even if you don't have to walk, I'll be there."

Her words were like a balm. I clung to her, and together we walked into the silence that covered the cemetery. She helped me every step of the way. Despite the pain in my knee, I was grateful to be there. True friendship binds even in the moments of greatest sorrow.

I was looking at Jelka Amalia in the photo by the barbecue. Peaceful and calm. It is as if we are saying goodbye to someone who is still here, just in another world. I took a deep breath and whispered to her in my mind everything I had not been able to say to her in person. "Dear Jelka, thank you for all the moments we spent together. For all the happy hours, the conversations, and the friendship that made us happy."

I felt two hot streams of tears streaming down my face. I wanted to hide them, but I couldn't. They came out of my eyes of their own accord. I felt a lump in my throat. The urn with Jelka's remains was placed in the grave where her husband Martin, whom she loved immensely, was laid to rest. In a moment, she would be with him.

I felt very sad that she was gone from my life. But she will always remain in my heart. When we said goodbye to her, I felt at peace knowing that I had accompanied her on her final journey. The thought came into my heart that what mattered was not how much pain there was on the way to the cemetery, but that I was there to give my love, my time and my presence at that decisive moment.

My neighbour Marjana also helped me home. Without her, I would not have been able to say goodbye to my friend Jelka.

Justina Strašek, 3. 4. 2025