I never met Ana in person, but that doesn’t mean I did not know her. A part of her will always remain in the people who loved her, and whom she loved. She will live on through their actions. The day after the photo auction, I joined in to help organize the concert and I met some amazing people who were working to make Ana’s dreams come true.
Having become a part of “Ana’s magic” I received the most beautiful gift; the gift of love, a gift you can receive only by contributing to something truly “big”, unselfish and pure.
Ana never gave up. In her hardest moments, she thought of others. She started a wave of incredible strength, and shared with us the faith that together we could create something truly wonderful. Even today, while I work on this project, I think of Ana, and I think about my Andreja. I think about the “little bald heads” Ana wrote about to get the public’s attention and stress the importance of expanding the Registry. That’s what gives all of us the strength to keep going.
My neighbour, a lovely elderly lady who lives one floor below me, lost her husband after 40 years of love and marriage. They had no children. One day while having coffee with her she told me that what really saddened her was that after she died, nobody would know their story. Nobody would know how they had met on the train from Sisak to Zagreb, or how they had loved to go fishing together. Nobody would ever know how happy and how much in love they had been all those years.
We are all here to tell Ana’s story and to give those people suffering from blood diseases the chance to create their own long and happy stories, ones that they will be able to tell their grandchildren. Each new donor is a dear acquaintance and a moment to relive the stories of Ana, Andreja, Luka… and the many other people who were so dear to us but are no longer with us. Every new donor is a testimony to the power of Ana’s message and the love which is undoubtedly here with us.
