How and from where we get our courage? Many times, during my life, I  have felt that nature has been my inspiration to go on. As a young child during WW II, the decision making  had been left on the availability  of the resources that were left. Decades after my plight to freedom, I am still wondering how a garden snail, my “Helix Aspersa”, became my inspiration to share my story. It had come out of its shell and encouraged me to do the same.  The simplicity and wisdom of nature was as instrumental on that evening, when my book started to take shape, as it was during the dire days. At that young age, as I recall, my panorama was narrow, all I had left was to watch how all creatures and vegetation keep going with a  set ritual and triumph against all odds.  We cannot just admire the power, we must serve with gratitude for having given the chance to work toward the  survival of our planet and the human race. Nature will always be there, with or without us , to maintain the cycle is our responsibility. The notorious WW II raged through Europe, leaving on its path destruction and death. Emotionally and physically I survived by what nature had to offer, it nourished me, I learned from it, trusted and followed the simplicity and tried to distance myself from people. It was inevitable, all the odd relentless activities were difficult for me to grasp, I had lost trust in people, they had  changed, I thought, too much violence; I could not come to terms with any reason for all that. It was a trying and very difficult task to overcome the harm those diabolic powers had exposed me and so many others to. We all have scars to heal, how we are able to deal with it is entirely  up to each individual. I held on to a small stone that i had found in the ashes of my childhood home, it had survived the inferno, it became a symbol of strength that I could trust, held on to the little thing, because there were no big things left.