SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

And so I sang to myself as I gazed out of the window into his choice. I felt so unique and relaxing with that soothing green colour when I visited an almost centenarian man in the Zasavje hills.

Although his wife grew up nearby, she wanted to live in the valley. Unable to persuade her husband to take her down there, they added on to and remodelled the house they had inherited. Three children were born to them on a subsistence farm in the beautiful countryside. As they finished primary school and grew up, one by one they moved to the valley and settled in the nearby town.

As in all families, their children have made their own lives and their own families with children. As in all families, they returned home from time to time. The children to their homes and the grandchildren to their grandparents. As in many other families, the children went home to help with the work and the grandchildren went home to run up the hill and play with the animals. But such days were rare. The exception was the son, who found working on the farm a joy and a relaxation.

Days and years passed in this rhythm, until my mother and father became weak and could no longer work. Then they sat down as a family and talked about inheritance. Together they decided that the son would take over the farm, and the daughters were happy with their share and grateful for it. Even more than the property, they were happy because they had discussed everything and remained united as a family.

When my mother was ill, they would arrange when someone would come home to bring or cook lunch, tidy up the house and do everything that my mother had done. This went on for two years, and then one summer's day they said goodbye to her. My father was alone, completely alone on the farm and in the house. My husband is 94 years old. Most people these days would say, "That's not a problem. We will send him to a retirement home so that we can have peace and live our lives in peace."

Yes, that's what most people would say, but it wasn't the case here! It wasn't that simple, because my father didn't want to go into the home. "I have lived here on the mountain all my life and here, in this house, I will go to heaven," he said. The children of this family sat down at the table, talked and were united: "Dad, we will take care of you. They will bring you lunch from the nearby nursing home, and we will make you dinner and give you the treats you like. We'll keep you informed about who will visit you when."

It's easier now that it's not just three children to look after. Now there are five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, and whoever can go to the father goes to the father. The one who takes the time to visit him with joy and love, morning or afternoon, because they agreed and said, "Why shouldn't it be different here?" 

Now almost a hundred years old, the ata proudly speaks of his children and grandchildren, as his son's son has started to build a house next to the ata. He is with him almost every day. He always says hello, asks how he is, and then goes to work. He does not have a job, but he enjoys watching the young people at work and reminiscing about his youth from his bed or from the bench in front of the house. 

Darinka Kobal, 15 May 2025