On the edge

During the last 15 years, the population in the remote Finnish countryside has decreased more rapidly than ever before. Life has become tough for those who have remained, but it is not easy to leave one's home. Anita Heinonen, 83, who lives in the Kuona village, has only her cats and memories left to accompany her. "The man introduced himself as Johnny Cash, an American country singer. Then he just casually came along me," she reminisces the love from her youth with a smile on her face. Anita Heinonen moved to Kuona with her husband, artist Erkki Sakari Heinonen, in the 1960's. Anita Heinonen travelled all around Finland from Kuona and danced flamenco in night clubs. Nowadays, a young flamenco dancer no longer looks back at her from the mirror. When you get old, your lack of energy starts to wear on you. And there is much work to do in her big house. "I'm already ready to depart. When you think about it in retrospect, a person's life is as short as a breath of wind."