Gerda and Kai met and fell deeply in love when they were just 15 years old. Now both aged 75 they had spent 60 beautiful years together through summers, springs, autumns and winters learning and loving and growing together.
A cold hard winter brought storms their way causing Kai some bad health. As cold months tend to do. Gerda watched out the window as the “snow queen” swooped into their village and covered everything in sadness and as Kai was out gathering wood for the fire ice and snowflakes blinded him.
When Kai returned indoors he struggled to focus, he felt weak and confused. And as the days passed his health deteriorated further still. In his confusion Kai began to forget how to complete tasks which were known to him, he could longer speak, swallow or understand much of his life. When he looked at Gerda he saw a woman he no longer knew. A woman who’s constant fussing on him made him irritable and snappy.
The doctors informed Gerda that Kai had dementia and that she could no longer expect him to be the man she knew and loved, but Gerda never gave up hope. She knew that the man she loved was still inside trapped by the “snow queen’s spell”
Time passed and Kai remained “frozen” in moments of the past, confused and tired by a world he no longer understood. Gerda eventually had to accept that she could no longer care for him and he moved into care, but Gerda visited every day and spent time with him. Kai began to become a little more aware of Gerda and although he was unsure of who she was he knew how she made him feel which was loved and safe.
Gerda now lives for precious moments with Kai, moments of lucidity when tears come and melt the ice from his eyes. Moments when the snow queen’s grip on him slips and he looks at her with the same softness and love her did on the day they were married.
For Gerda knows that love is the most powerful thing on earth and that Kai would always be there, inside her heart. Forever.
Submitted by: Jenni Mack