I was so miserable.  I was so sad.  I laid my head down and cried and remembered that this day was my tenth birthday.  It was October 16, 1943.   I wondered if I could live long enough to be eleven years old. 

       It was so cold and so dark now that my candle had blown out.  I was so afraid in the dark.   I knew I wouldn't  be allowed out of the tunnel until the supervising soldiers released me.  All day long I had dug, and put the loosened dirt in the baskets that were sent down to us.  I couldn't hear anyone else around and I couldn't see any other light.  I was so tired.  If only the Japanese hadn't sent us to work in the tin mine, at least then I'd be out in the air.  I was so afraid of the bugs and the worms that lived in the earth.

      Finally, in total desperation I laid my head down and once again asked God why this was happening to me.  Suddenly, different than all other times I had asked Him, I felt He was answering me. 

     "Why should you be so special from any other little girl?  Everyone has a place and a reason for being.  Right now, your place is here and this is part of your life right now." I asked Him once  again,        

     "What shall I do?  I'm so frightened all the time and I'm so hungry and cold, too." I felt HIs presence and could hear in my heart that He told me I was never alone.  I should never be afraid as He was always with me. As for the hunger and the cold, I felt His comfort  as I understood all this was fleeting, as was life itself.  The only reality was that of The Lord.

      After that time I could be more patient with our day by day ordeal. I was still hungry and cold.