I used to visit an old lady,
about once a month.
She was way over eighty. We talked about a lot of things.
She loved to talk about her family, how they had survived the war,
her experiences being a doctor, about the Bibel and faith,
countries she had been to, people and books.
She always invited me into her tiny living room,
with three old armchairs, a little table and a big, overfilled bookshelve.

I want to share one of my favorite stories. Something she experienced
working as a doctor.

One day a woman knocked on her door and entered. She looked sad.
They sat down and the woman started talking.
She and her husband had four children.
They didn´t have much money and life wasn´t easy.
Now she was expecting her fifth baby.
They had decided to get an abortion. Another child would just be too much.
My friend the doc listened until the woman had finished.
Then it was her time to speak and she only said two things!
„Before you take the final decision, please consider,
that the baby you are carrying under your heart,
might become a very special person.
It might become someone, who grows up and
will change the world a little bit for the better.

The second thing she said, was,
that the woman had knocked on the wrong door
and that she herself was not the person to apply for an abortion!

The woman left and my friend and doctor
did not know how things had gone on….. until several years later.

Again she was working in the hospital
and a woman with a girl came into the room.
The woman said: „You know me!“
„I know a lot of people“, my friend said.
„No, I am the woman, who came to see you
for an abortion years ago.“
Now of course my friend remembered.
„Because of what you said to me,
we decided to keep baby number five and
I want you to know, that our life has changed since then so much.
Now my husband is much more involved.
He takes the children outside to play,
so that I can relax a bit.
He helps me, he even helps clean up!
We have proper family life, we are so happy!
I want to thank you for listening to me years ago!“

I loved to listen to this old lady talk about her life!