Hi, Eva!

1. Hi, Eva! You don't know me. But my name is Kim, and i live on the other side of the world. Your Grandma calls me 'The Pirate'! Arrrr! Don't be afraid. I'm not a real pirate. Really!

2. I'm not very good at writing letters - and my owl is a bit old for long trips anyway. So, i have to use my computer instead. Well, that might be better. My handwriting is horrible!

3. Your Grandma has asked me, and some of her other friends, to send a picture, so you can see what we look like. And perhaps tell you a story. The story is a bit strange. And perhaps not really a story at all. It is about magic, books, friends, a family... and a small, very sick little girl. I don't really know where to start.

4. Well - what your Grandma (i call her Dayna) really wanted, was just a picture. So... this is what i look like:

5. And where does the story start? I guess it all started with this lady. She's called Joanne Rowling. She was very poor, but then she thought of a good story....

6. ...and then she wrote a book. This one:

7. It was a very good book. Your Grandma liked it, i liked it - a lot of people from all over the world liked it. So, Jo Rowling wrote six more books. I think she got rich.

8. ...Actually, it ended up with nine... But these 3 are really small.

9. The books are about a boy, Harry. Harry Potter. He thinks himself that he is pretty normal, but one day he finds out he's a wizard. This is Harry- and his friends Ron and Hermione:

10. They go to a school for witches and wizards - it's called Hogwarts. It's an old castle in Scotland.

11. While they go to school, they have to learn - but also to fight monsters, solve riddles - and to defeat a very, very evil wizard.

12. Harry has survived many attacks from the evil wizard and his followers. So, in the end, he's known as ”The boy who lived”. It is sometimes a bit scary. But your Grandma will tell you all about Harry, his friends and all his adventures.

13. So, a lot of people liked the books. They were made into films. And your grandma, me, and a lot of other people would meet on a website called ”The Leaky Lounge” and write to each other about the books and films. And because we kept writing, we became friends and talked about everything else, too.

14. Someone called ”MomWeasley” would write from Arizona in the U.S.A. and tell us about her tiny Abraxan Miniature horses. (They really like to play!)

15. RosieW would write from Yorkshire in England, and tell us that her cat kept catching frogs - and bring them into the house! He is a very naughty cat. But he doesen't really care.

16. I would write about my house here in Sonderborg, Denmark. That's on the other side of the Earth. I think i already wrote that.

17. I also have a garden. It's very messy. But there is lots of birds and hedgehogs, and sometimes there is a fox...

18. I would also write about my family. Here we are. It's Jenny (my wife), me, Margaret (my daughter), Alun (my son-in-law) and Jon (my son). We all do all we can to look normal... It's from Margo and Al's wedding.

19. I would also boast a lot about sailing. I sailed a lot with somebody called ”Greenpeace”...

20. ...And now i'm a skipper myself. On a viking ship. Really! Her name is ”Sebbe Als”, by the way...

21. I have a normal job too. I make electronics for solar panels. That is so the electricity in your wall socket comes from the sun itself. That's a good thing for the environment.

22. Now, what was the story all about? Well, one day, when we all talked about Harry Potter and other things, your Grandma was very proud to tell us... that she was going to be a Grandma! Your Mum and Dad would have a baby - that's you, Eva. Grandma was very, very proud and happy. And all the rest of us were happy as well. So we wrote 'Congratulations! and 'Hooray' and 'Good luck' to your Grandma.

23. But, quite some time before you were born, something went wrong. While visiting somebody far away from home, your Mom's tummy started to hurt. And she had to go to the hospital. I haven't a picture, so this one is of our hospital here.

24. Your Grandma wrote and told the rest of us about it. She was very scared. We became scared too. This was very serious. We knew how important you were to your Mom, Dad, Grandma and all the rest of your family.

25. Things went worse. You were born - but much too early. Babies have to stay in their Mom's tummies for nine months, before they are ready. You were not ready: you were very, very small. It was not your fault, or your Mom's, or anybodys. Sometimes that just happens. And nobody can do anything about it.

26. You and your Mom had to stay in hospital. And because you was so small, a lot of doctors and nurses had to look after you, all the time. You were even smaller than the baby on this picture. Your Grandma showed us some pictures she took.

27. Your grandma was very scared now. She was afraid of losing you. We tried to comfort her. It was very difficult. We were all so far away - all over the Earth.

28. Because we all were so far away, the only thing we could do, was to pray for you. When somebody prays, they talk to God. People pray for many reasons. Sometimes they ask God to do them a favor. We all asked God for a favor: we asked him to save the life of a very small, newborn girl. That little girl had become very important to all of us. Because we knew how important she was to all her family.

29. People pray in different ways. Christians usually go to a Church. They take their hats off and kneel down, facing the altar to show respect for God. This is the church where i was christened. It's very old.

30. Jewish people usually pray in a Synagoge. Usually they stand up, and cover their heads, to show respect for God.

31. Muslims often go to a Mosque to pray. They kneel down on a special small blanket, and face the city Mecca. Just to show respect for God.

32. Some people just stay home, or in the office, or where ever they are, when they pray. It doesen't really matter. God is everywhere. This boy prays in his bedroom. I don't really think the dog knows what he's doing, but he's a good dog and tries to help.

33. Some people pray in different ways. And some, like me, find it very difficult to do. I usually go for a long walk in our forest, and think very hard over the problem. In a way, that's also a kind of praying.

34. It is not always when people pray for something, that they get what they want. Sometimes, God thinks it's not good what people want. And sometimes bad things happen, and even if people pray to make these things go away, God lets them happen anyway. Because there is some meaning with them. Even if we can't see it.

35. But this time, God gave us what we asked for. He helped you to stay alive. You got help from some really good doctors and nurses, but if God decides to call somebody home to Heaven, they can't do anything. This is not your doctors and nurses: i don't have a picture of them either. But like these, they are all nice.

36. It took a very long time before your Mom and Dad could bring you home from the hospital. Your Grandma told us all about it, and showed us some more pictures of you. She was very, very happy. We were very happy too. God had given us all a very large gift: he gave us you.

37. Well, now you are a big girl. And now you know why some people all over the world know your name. Because of good will and prayers, books and your Grandma. I have never met you, or your Grandma. And i probably never will. But i feel that i know you, just a little bit - as ”The Girl who Lived”. Have a good life, Eva - Kim ”The_Pirate”