Still Standing in Spite Of... (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781728310954)

Elvira Plavsic was born in Southern Europe and she has lived in many other countries learning and appreciating the diverse lessons from all of them.

Her boarding school was an old castle built in 1547, which today is abandoned and decayed, yet still standing in all its beauty and dignity. It was passed from one owner to another, had its look changed as towers and wings were added. It was confiscated for a while and robbed of many valuable objects, all the while withstanding harsh winters and storms. Yet, it still stood with its motto engraved on the wall: "Dum spiro spero"(while I breathe, I hope).

Just like many of us going through the harsh storms of betrayal, loss and pain, the robbery of our dreams and hopes, through jealousy, injustice and hurt...we can still stand in spite of all. We can rise above all the negative things and, like the pink diamond that has to go through extra pressure in order to become such a rare and valuable object, we can chose to become beautiful gems also. Standing in spite of all and not giving up, for while we breathe there is a hope.