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Produced by the I-Lab at WBUR Boston.

From The New York Times and WBUR Boston, this is Modern Love.

Stories of Love, Loss and Redemption.

I'm your host, Magna Chacrabardi.

During the Bosnian War in the early 1990s, an estimated 100,000 people died and millions were displaced.

The conflict produced the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II.

But Nicolina Kooligen was 12 years old before War broke out and had no idea any of that was on the horizon.

Her essay is called A Kiss Deferred by Civil War and it's read by Joanna Koolig, who stars in the new movie Cold War.

The New York Times

Many saw it coming.

Ethnically, charred graffiti began appearing on buildings around town.

The local newspapers published the locations of bomb shelters.

A classmate told me not to sleep in my bedroom because it felt military barracks.

I dismissed these warnings, just as I ignored all other signs of coming doom.

In my 12-year-old mine, our town of Moster in Bosnia and Herzegovina was too beautiful and the people too good for their to be civil war.

Besides, that spring was promising to be the greatest time of my life.

I was happy in love for the first time.

I saw Margaret's school and was attracted to his eyes and playful smile.

One afternoon while walking home from a piano lesson, I saw him coming down the hill on his skateboard.

He stopped just short of running into me.

I don't remember saying much, we just stood there and smiled.

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