STORYTIME
TAPESTRY
The Newsletter
devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the
world
Special Treat
??“ Karin Janin
June 3,
2005
Today we
welcome another new writer to our fold.
Karin Janin is the 209th writer for Storytime Tapestry and
yesterday was her birthday. Please
send your birthday wishes and tell her how much you liked her
story.
And in a
split-second??¦
I knew??¦..
by Karin Janin
One day in October of
last year I received a message from my biological brother, Harry, that our
mother had passed on. I was shocked because I thought she had already left
this world years earlier.
I then asked him about the
details. He had little to say except that she was buried
anonymously. (I believe the German to English translation tool he was using
did not know how to translate some of his words.) Nevertheless, it was thought
provoking and so very sad.
You see, I was born in
Germany and was placed
immediately into a children??™s home. After four years there I was gifted a
miracle when a man and his family transported me out of the orphanage to
Caracas,
Venezuela. It is an
amazing story that clearly illustrates how life can change so quickly and
opportunities open up that you never dreamt would happen.
I was the
lucky one, as I learned years later. Harry and Gunther, my two biological
brothers whom I met as an adult, lived in and out of the home for many
years??¦.mostly in. We were all creative in our respective fields and yet,
we??™ve lived very different lives.
Now, back to the story??¦. I
continued to prod Harry with questions. My first reaction to his
declaration was that of sadness and then anger, as I did not have a chance to
experience closure in this traumatic and unpleasant relationship with my
mother.
Finally I asked Harry how his life was going and what
was happening. He said to me
???I am like a shell, close it gently and
silently.???About our mother: ???The life of our mother ended on 25 October.
It was a sad, poor life.??? The following words from Harry sent chills down
my spine:???I live alone and withdrawn,
have nobody to contact and look also for none. Now I am the man who I never
wanted to be ??” I am like my mother, have grey hair, eyeglasses, my teeth
are wrong and my co-inhabitants are two lovely cats. Some years I did not
have any income and got social welfare assistance. But now I work in a
hospital in the administration, have my own office and a little apartment, its
o.k.???
When I read these words I broke down crying. It
was in that moment??¦that split-second??¦ when I realized that this could have been
me. I could have lived my life in
Germany (which was
rebuilding after WWII), become like our mother and lived a poor life ??” poor
emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
It was in that
split-second that I experienced profound gratitude beyond description. I spent
the day crying with sadness for Harry, as well as with gratitude, awareness and
joy for the life I have had so far.
All we have are the short
moments in our daily lives??¦how we live those moments is our CHOICE. Do we
only see despair and sorrow? Or do we see joy, happiness,
gratitude.
In this split-second, I chose
gratitude.
Karin Janin ??”
is an author, a creative life coach, a mother, a grandmother, a wife and
more. She has her own TV show in New York
City that's
featured bi-monthly on ???Uniquely Yours Now.??? Karin is also the founder of
The Orphan Connection (http://www.orphanconnect.com) andI Achieve ??? I
Can (http://www.karinjanin.com)
She can be reached at karin@karinjanin.com
