Article January 1, 1998 Issue

“How could she?” I thought

Uta Loose

At that time our children were about two and four, we lived in an old building that was fairly cold. When the children were barefoot or without a jacket, I always said, “Watch out, dress warmly!” I was afraid they would catch cold.

This fear had developed during many years, even generations. It was a wrong assumption that catching cold in certain situations is just a rule. I was educating the children in a direction that said there is a power besides God. Because I told them, “Dress warmly—or else.”

I had heard this fear from my mother and grandmother. On the first warm days in May, my friends would come with just a light sweater to school, but I was not allowed to. I was always constricted by fears of catching cold and suffered under them.

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