Ms. P tells me a little about herself.

Her husband suddenly died six months ago.

He had been providing care for her for the last few years. Then her son took over. That went well for a while, but not for long.

Now she lives in a nursing home.

She has just returned from the hospital. They told her everything was normal. There is blood in her urine. She has many kidney stones. She is in a lot of pain. At some point, she is supposed to have a CT scan.

They came from Croatia back then. First her husband was here. Then he brought her over. But before that, they got married.

He lived in a dormitory, she in a room with three other women. He worked in some factory, she initially as a maid.
Her husband sent her to buy bed linen with her first advance payment of 100 marks. She bought the cheapest ones. After all, they had to live on the rest of the money for a whole month.

Every three months, they had to reapply for their visas. Later, it got better, and they only had to do it once a year. Each time, they had to prove that they had work and no debts.

She deeply regrets that she never completed any training. There was no time for that. Her son went to daycare two months after he was born. There was no more maternity leave than that. And they needed the money.

They wanted to return to their homeland when they retired. Her husband developed heart disease, so they decided to stay here after all.

Ms. P says she is grateful to Germany because it gave them bread.