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!

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!

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.

Well - what your Grandma (i call her Dayna) really

wanted, was just a picture. So... this is what i look like:

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....

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

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.

...Actually, it ended up with nine...

But these 3 are really small.

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:

They go to a school for witches and wizards - it's called

Hogwarts. It's an old castle in Scotland.

While they go to school, they have to learn - but also to

fight monsters, solve riddles - and to defeat a very, very

evil wizard.

It is sometimes a bit scary. But your Grandma will tell

you all about Harry, his friends and all his adventures.

Harry has survived many attacks from the evil wizard and

his followers. So, in the end, he's known as ”The boy who

lived”.

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.

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!)

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.

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.

I also have a garden. It's very messy. But there is lots

of birds and hedgehogs, and sometimes there is a fox...

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.

I would also boast a lot about sailing. I sailed a lot with

somebody called ”Greenpeace”...

...And now i'm a skipper myself. On a viking ship. Really!

Her name is ”Sebbe Als”, by the way...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Jewish people usually pray in a Synagoge. Usually they

stand up, and cover their heads, to show respect for God.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”