This is Amselstrasse, where my children rode their bicycles.
The bakery where I bought pastries for my kiddos. Der Backerei Michael Schmitt, Rodenbach, Rheinland -Pfalz, Rodenbach, Deutscheland. Schmeck gutt!
In our first "over the fence" conversation, yes, I spoke & still am fluent in the German language, she, unexpectedly, poured her life out to me.
In personal experience, the German people seemed pleasantly stoic for the most part. I enjoyed their reserved attitude.
She told me that she was originally from Stuttgart, the man she met at 16 was from Rodenbach, the current village where she lived.
She told me, with tears in her beautiful blue eyes,
"Meine mann ist tod im Kaiserslautern bis zex monat."
This was a very personal disclosure for her.
Please forgive my less than perfect interpretation.
She was telling me that her husband had passed on six months earlier. What was learned during living in Germany is that German people are generally, much less than disclosing about such personal information. She was a lovely woman. Our daily "over the fence conversations", mostly in the German language, were very
enlightening.
I was honing, putting to a test, of sorts, my fluency in the German language. Learning about the country that was to be home for however long or short that would be.
Ann Marie was instrumental in that.
She would ask me if my children could visit. She baked cookies for them. She was a kind woman. My children were more fortunate than Hansel und Gretel!
It made her loneliness ease. She had them watching Sezame Strasse.
Frau Ann Marie was delighted when the kiddos laughed at Grosse Vogel ~ Big Bird! Some things simply translate well across languages as well as cultures!
Those times became fond memories.
Living in our stairwell apartment, I took my kiddos on walks through the village, stopping at the local Italian Eis shop fur ein kugel auf der chokolatten und erdbeer fur mein kinder.
It was so much fun. Such precious adventures.
When we were offered a bit of financial gain by moving into military housing, I made a gift of a small cross stitched American flag on a trinket box for Frau Ann Marie.
She hugged me, tears slipping down her cheeks, when I told he we were moving.
I have looked at the area that was home "for a time" with Google Earth.
It still looks mostly the same. Frau Ann Marie is still there by her fence in my heart. She is smiling, inviting me for some neighborly conversation at the fence.
In my dreams, in my heart and mind, sometimes I go back.
Tschuss!
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