Hello - I'm Davor, Ivan's father.
In Croatia I worked in the mines while my wife Olga worked packing different products for a company. After the Kosovan War started in 1991, we decided to come to Spain. At first we had problems with the Spanish authorities, and our appeal to be accepted as refugees was studied in great detail. In the end we were allowed to stay in Spain as refugees. Ivan was 9 then, and Olga, who badly missed all her family in Croatia became ill and died in 1992. As you can imagine, it was a very sad start to our new life in Spain. Ivan and I miss her terribly, but we have to carry on. Olga would have wanted us to get on with our lives and not sit around feeling sad and down.
I had a few different jobs when we first moved here, and then eventually I started work in a bakery. I got on really well with the owner, and he treated me like a son. His wife had died years ago, and they had no children of their own. When he died he left the bakery to me in his will. Because of this our finances have improved considerably since we moved to Spain, and things are easier for us now.
Let me tell you a bit more about Ivan. He has no brothers or sisters. He works hard and would love to study medicine. He's really natural, not full of himself at all, and he's also really kind and affectionate. He's bright and clever and quite serious, but he can be funny as well sometimes. As far as I know, his friends take notice of what he has to say, although he doesn't talk much. He usually thinks quite carefully before he speaks, and tries to "walk in other people's shoes" before he comments. He can be quite sentimental at times. What else can I say about Ivan? He keeps in touch with friends in Croatia and he knows that some of them are going through difficult times. He's very aware of this and knows how lucky he is to have his life in Spain. Sometimes it makes him sad that he can't be there to help or at least try to cheer them up. He's very concerned about people and I think he'd make an excellent Doctor; he's intelligent and very caring too.
I really feel part of Spanish society now. I'm still young, and now that both Ivan and I have started to recover from Olga's death, perhaps I'll meet someone new, who knows? I wouldn't mind at all where she came from, or her class, culture, or religion... Actually, my wife was a Muslim Serb and I'm a Catholic Croat, and it was never a problem for us.
