Never Stop Walking: A Memoir of Finding Home Across the World

by Christina Rickardsson

And of the love of mothers, which stretches to infinity and then back again to warm my whole heart.

realize that my life really hasn’t been about finding myself, but about creating myself.

It’s not where you come from; it’s where you belong that matters. And it’s OK to feel like you belong in more than one place.

We never know our strength until life tests us. But most of all, we don’t know what strength and power another person has until we follow them for a while on their journey.

Love can’t be bought, manufactured, or elicited on request. It’s a gift that we choose to give and to receive. It’s unselfish and maybe it can’t move mountains, but it can do something even better: it can save a life.

Change is painful. It’s uncomfortable and sometimes even distressing. But if we embrace the change and look at the positive in it and strive to make the best of it, there’s so much good to be gained. Viewing situations as us versus them is dangerous. No good can come of that mentality. I fervently hope that no army in Sweden or anywhere else will need to be part of what I experienced in Brazil. I don’t want to see societies filled with good people changed to such an extent that we close our eyes to a young girl being murdered without punishing the perpetrators. This must never feel normal. I never want us to look at another individual and think we’re more valuable because we’re richer or have a different skin color, sexual orientation, or religion.

wish we could all stop for a second and ask ourselves: What are we doing for these children and these people? What can we do? How would we want to be treated if this happened to us? What difficulties do you encounter when you come to a new land? Let us join together and see the human being, see ourselves in these human beings who need help.