It’s been 7
years since you left. So much has happened. So much has changed. It’s been
several years of war. 7 years of pain. And you left. Sometimes I feel angry
about it. You had the chance of leaving and not going through what we went
through. You were protected, and I am so happy for it. But it is not always
easy to understand. And I know is not easy leaving. But it wasn’t easy staying
either. 7 years, Kathe! I’m a different person. The war changes you in a way
that I never thought it could be possible. It changed my notions of home, of
love and of life. It destroys so much of what you were before. All of those
dreams, all of those plans. Everything then seems so volatile. And you left.
And I stayed. We went through so much.
Bombings, family members and friends dying, people running. I never knew what
happened to you. I tried. I’ve sent letters. And I still send them. And I never
heard from you. Maybe the new life made you well. Maybe you realised that you
had nothing to do with this land anymore. And for those staying remain the
thought of what could have been.
Now the bombings
are over. People are returning. But you have not returned. And whilst the
fighting has stopped, maybe it will take much longer until the war is actually
over. For me.
Photos
by ©Andreas Chasomeris
Text
by Gustavo de Carvalho
