In the town of Gospić, near the Plitvice Lakes, we stayed with a wonderful Christian family. This family's business was making grave-stones, and their driveway was crowded with stone samples. We stayed in their guest house behind their home. It was wonderful to have a place our own. The guest house even had a kitchen - though we never used it because they fed us the whole time.
This family had a particularly hard time during the war. During Yugoslavian times it was not uncommon for people from one region to marry someone from another region. The father of this family was from Serbia, and the mother was from Croatia. Before the war started nobody had any problem with this match, and they lived happily in Gospić. During the war it was a different story.
When the war started, the people of the town started to resent the Serbs, and the father of the family began to receive threats. Despite the family being very active community members who had been liked, they were suddenly living in fear.
One day somebody decided to act upon their hate and resentment. A bomb was placed in the father's car, set to go off when he left for work. If he had not been running late for work that morning, he would be dead. The bomb went off in the driveway, shattering house windows and sending shrapnel across the yard.
It was amazing to stay with a family who had so much love and forgiveness after surviving so much hate and mercilessness. They still live among the people who showed them so much hostility. They have moved on with their lives, and they know that holding grudges will not make them happy. It is a beautiful lesson they can teach us all.
