It was about a five minute walk from the station to my aunt's house. At the end of the driveway was a woman cleaning up some garden debris. She looked up and started smiling, this was Sabine, my cousin's wife. She recognized me although we had never meet. I guess it was a good thing that I had the foresight to send a photo of Kathleen and I before departing for Europe.
45 years earlier, my cousins Klaus Walter (top left) and his younger brother Holger.
My aunt's house was typical of the homes built in post-war Germany. The big difference for me on this trip was the "addition" built onto the rear. This addition was twice as large as my aunt's home and is where my cousin Holger, his wife Sabine and their daughter Lina lived. Funny also, are the two different interior décors. My aunt's home furnished with lots of photos, craftwork and knick-knacks from the pass. The younger people's homes were much cleaner(meaning less things) and simplistic. This difference I noticed at all the younger people's home that Kathleen and I visited. I liked the look of these homes however I fall into my aunt's style of decorating a home.
My mom family, left to right. Heinrich, Wanda (my mother), Eugen, Marie, and Dieter. 1970
It was very nice to see my aunt Marie, Sabine and Lina. We chatted, drank coffee and eat cookies until Holger arrived home from work. Shorty after Klaus Walter (my other cousin) arrived with his wife Sabine and their son Devin. Again this was the first time that I ever met Sabine and Devin.
After all the hugs and hellos were done with, the problem of two "Sabina's needed to be addressed. Hogler's Sabine goes by "Bine" while Klaus Walter's Sabine stayed the same. Next we all went inside for supper and conversation. Midnight came quickly, it was bedtime.
Nice to see that lovely photo of your mother.
ReplyDelete