This was the day of our annual charity sale: DVDs, books, CDs. Quite a few items were put out on the table, DVDs and CDs becoming fewer and fewer. It’s always fun to see what the others have read and get suggestions. Items are sold for € 1 each; the money then goes to our charity. The charity is always decided at the AGM in Sept. for the new Cosmo year. This year’s charity is the 2nd Frauenhaus in Cologne.      Frau Schrimpf, who works for the organisation, was supposed to give us a talk about the situation and work at the 2 houses. As luck would have it, she tested positive for covid just the day before, so our flexible, energetic president had to improvise.      No problem for Barbara M.-S. She knew of a member who lives at the Beginenhof in Widdersdorf, Cologne, so she asked Eva Stegemann to introduce herself and tell us something about the concept of the Beginenhof. It was the perfect way for us to get to know Eva, who is relatively new in the club, and at the same time  acquire information about this interesting concept of living.      Just a few of the basics. The idea of the Beginenhof originated in Belgium specifically for women who were not nuns. It is not religiously affiliated, but more socially-oriented. Each person has her own flat, can live on her own as much or as little as she wants. The group is self-governing, which has worked out so far with only some difficulties at the beginning. Eva has lived there since its beginning in Cologne 2013. She herself is very active, conducting a meditation group, but there is no pressure to participate.      It was so interesting to get to know Eva, and her story (our motto: each of us has a story). And I’m sure we’ll have various questions about her life at our future meetings. Thank you, Eva, and thank you, Barbara, for this very good, spontaneous idea.  AND, of course, you can Google Beginenhof for more info.