""Einsvierzig"" "I am small," "My heart is pure," "Let no one in," "Oh, how fine!" "." "Frau Wallner, what was your reaction when your son was born and you realized that he was a dwarf?" "I was shattered, at first I was shattered." "But, my God, on the other hand there was the joy of having a baby." "I thought to myself that it might get better, it might change." "When he was born he wasn't dwarfish, he was 3.25 meters tall." "No, that's not right." "No one could even say if he would survive at first." "He was put in an incubator and only there brought to life and afterwards, when I knew and had that certitude, did I come to terms with it." "How long did Karli live at home?" "Well, Karli has always lived with me..." "He moved out about three years ago now, but other than that he's always lived with me." "What do you mean?" "He's always lived with me." "I was already living out in Gablitz, and he lived here, but we were a family" "I cooked for him and did everything for him until he moved out on his own." "For a time he was married but not long, so you can't count that." "Karli, would you have liked to move out sooner?" " Did you want to live on your own sooner?" " Karli!" "Did you want to live on your own sooner?" "Yeah, sure - it depends - yes, for sure." "Yes, he wanted to become autonomous he didn't want people ever to think he was dependent on them." "Again?" "The same thing again?" "I always love to take corners like that, making the tires squeal, just like Niki Lauda, scaring people; it makes me happy, and I have to laugh because it's fun." "Karli is a wonderful person, we've known him for sixteen years, but we've only really had contact for about a year and a half with him." "Before then I was working, so I didn't have any time." "But now that we know him, he's a wonderful person, how can I say it?" " a capable and kind person." "And above all... very smart, highly developed, intellectual person." "He's a very good friend, and he has a lot of humour and he really manages very well in life." "And he's very good-natured." "For me Karli is a courageous example that handicapped people, even severely handicapped people, can take their place in society without any problems, if the society is willing to meet them even only halfway." "He's a very open-minded person who doesn't have an inferiority complex because of his handicap" " he's brave and optimistic." "Please, I'd like to know what you think - if you were walking down the street and saw a dwarf like me, what would you think?" "Well, it's the same for me too, and I think that the person has the same problems as I do - and I'm always surprised" "I find that people look at me a lot more - so I always watch if people also look at that person - and he walks, he moves normally - and nobody glances at him." "Maybe I'm a bit oversensitive - I always think that people look only at me, and then I see that people don't pay so much attention, maybe they give a quick glance and then keep going." "I always think they're looking only at me." "So, the plane's moving out now, we'll watch it take off." "It's taxiing to the runway - it's there now..." " it's about to take off " "Here goes... now!" "I went on vacation in an airplane, with a charter flight " "I also take sightseeing flights." "I just like sitting in airplanes, I wish I were..." "I wish I had my pilot's licence, if I were normal sized, and everything, and so." "He has his own opinions, he has his own personality." "He doesn't like to give in to others, and in a household every member of the family has to compromise a little." "And he didn't like to do that." "He always did what he wanted to do, not what the others wanted." "He's stayed that way, not in a negative way, on the contrary, he simply had his own opinion, and he simply wanted to do what he wanted." "Really, he's a really nice guy, but he's sometimes, let's say, maybe because he doesn't hear well, somewhat suspicious - he often thinks people are being meaner than they really are." "That's funny - he's a co-worker like any other, he has to work..." "To me Herr Wallner is a normal employee like any other - he doesn't want anything else, and so that's how he's treated." "Like every other normal person." "The doctors told me when I was pregnant that the baby would be 90% healthy, and that it didn't have my disease." "And that's when I decided to have it." "Before then the doctors hadn't at all imagined that I could get pregnant." "At first they said that it was a tumour, and that it could be fatal." "But a clever doctor then realized that it was a baby." "Hello there, Mom." "Tell me please, what's for supper tonight?" "I'll be home in about an hour." "At birth I measured 41 cm " "when I was three I was about 60 cm tall." "At age ten I was about one meter ten, and at fourteen I reached the height of 1.40, which is what I am now." "The father of my child was a very tall man, 1.80 meter." "That probably shocked those around us more than if I'd found chosen someone my own size - but for me it was great - he always protected and defended me, and in fact we got along very well." "But the environmental influences - people who liked me said it couldn't work, they made me unsure, and on his end he always heard," ""You're with someone like her, she can't even reach the burners"" "it'll turn out badly, and there were also disputes about an inheritance my father got involved and we became so nervous that we said," "This isn't working, we weren't getting along any more." "I preferred my son to grow up in a calm atmosphere rather than having us fight all the time." "Excuse me, Madame, but I'd like to know what you think." "If you were walking down the street and you saw a dwarf like me, what would you think?" "I wouldn't think anything." "He's a human being, isn't he?" "Some people are big, others are small." "But I also have garden dwarfs, which I like, and which others don't." "If I think about what his life will be like, and the problems he'll have," "I do blame myself." "But I think he has a strong character so that he'll be able to deal with it." "He'll manage." "Did you hope that the child would be of normal size?" "Yes, I hoped that so strongly." "When I first woke up from the anaesthetic," "I completely misunderstood, I heard - in fact, he measured 37 cm at birth - and in my trance I understood 47 cm." "I was so happy and went back to sleep." "And when I finally came out of it and saw that the baby was only 37 cm tall," "I was deeply unhappy." "I thought, it's turned out exactly the way I didn't want" "But finally I came to terms with it, I never told anyone, and I've had so much happiness with him until now, that we actually lead a perfectly normal life, with scolding and quarrels and making up again..." "A woman my size," "I haven't met such a woman yet." "They've all been taller than me." "Sure, I hope I may find such a person." "Get married, absolutely, no problem." "Sure, why not?"