SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

One of them is Rozalija Klokočovnik, who is known to all her acquaintances, friends and family members as Ruža. She is a woman from Slovenske Konjice who, with her simplicity, calmness and moderation, sets an example of what it means to live with your heart and with the people you belong to.

Ruža lives alone in a block of flats close to the centre of Konjic. A small flat, old parquet floors and a kitchen that smells of coffee and a little bit of cleaner. She has three geraniums on her balcony and one bottle of rainwater to water her flowers. Most of her neighbours know her as a modest, calm and moderate person.

He speaks with a soft Slavonian accent. She comes from Vinkovci. »I don't go there anymore because everything is different now and the people have changed,« he says. She came to Konjice more than sixty years ago for her husband Slavko. »I came by train, I was a bit afraid. I didn't know the language, but I didn't want to show it.« Sometimes she smiles when she says this. »Nowadays, young people go to visit a neighbour and they yammer. I went to another place, even another country, and I only had one bag.«

Slavko was a hard-working man. Quietly diligent. The kind that is almost non-existent today. He worked in Konus. He was always the first one at work. He never complained, although he could have. »If I wanted him to be calm, I gave him something to eat and didn't ask too many questions,« Ruža jokes. But she always speaks of him with warmth: »He could be stubborn, but he wasn't nasty. He was independent. Everything had to be his way, but always for a reason.«

They had two children - Lojze and Metka. It was not a soft upbringing. There was no »please« and »thank you« for every bite. »You ate what was available and you were happy if there was something.« Ruža never cooked according to recipes. If there was too much, she divided it, if there was too little, she diluted it. And she always said, »Everything has to be just right. Moderation keeps you sane and sanity keeps you alive and well.«

When Slavko died, not much was said about it. Ruža accepted it like any woman who has been through a lot. »It wasn't easy, but it wasn't the first time life showed me its teeth.« For the first few weeks, she got up at the same time as before. She made two coffees, then poured one down the drain. »That made me feel there were two of us.«

Today, she lives alone, but it is never quiet with her. Someone is always coming to visit. Metka brings her something sweet, Lojze sometimes fixes the tap, and a neighbour comes for advice. When you come to her house, she doesn't offer you cake, but bread and tea. She says: »The sweet is eaten quickly, but the bread stays.«

She has nothing to show for it. No expensive things, no new curtains, no photos on the walls. But when you sit there, it's warm. It's human. Genuine.

When he talks about family, he does not say the word value. He says: »These are mine. Not everything is nice, but they are mine.«

Moderation, honesty and order, which is almost non-existent today - all this is not theory but practice. If you bring her a gift, she will say, »Why did you waste it?« If you tell her she is beautiful, she will say, »Ah, say that when I am in the ground.«

Sometimes she sits on the balcony and watches the children screaming and running around below. He just says, »Let them have what we didn't have.« Then he adds, »Just so they know how to be grateful.«

She never wanted to be special. But when you leave her, you have the feeling that you have touched something that is being lost. Simplicity. Moderation. A family that doesn't need perfection to be real.

Today, her family members are scattered in different places, but they are more connected than many living under the same roof. Lojze always calls when he needs something, Metka calls every evening, and her grandchildren cheer her up with a drawing or a photo. »Everyone has their own life,« says Ruža, »but when we get together, I know I've done everything right.« And indeed - there is no boasting in her voice, just a calm satisfaction that what is is enough.

Zala Krupljan, 20. 10. 2025