living in germany

It was 1971. Ella and I were in Germany and I was in the army. We loved to walk around Darmstadt, a city about 20 miles south of Frankfurt where we lived. We ate German food and shopped in German grocery stores and tried our best to be German, even though I was a GI.

There were museums and a castle and we lived in an apartment just down a cobblestone street from the Russian Orthodox Cathedral that Czar Nicholas used when he came to visit the in-laws, Alexandra’s family. It was visible from our window – gold tipped spires and a reflecting pool inlaid with gold – and had a university attached to it.

We loved to go to the castle in the middle of Darmstadt and look at the armor and stuff. It was quite beautiful. We had a red Volkswagen, but took the bus a lot, as it was easy and cheap and had a stop just down the street from our house. Since we had to park a couple of blocks away from our apartment, it was just as easy to take the bus unless we were going a long way.

The castle had a moat around it that was empty now, grass growing in it. On one side of the platz, the plaza, in front of the castle was a large building – I am not sure what of – that had been bombed in World War II. I am sure they kept it intact as it was to remind the Americans who were, after all, the occupying forces of what had happened.

In front of the castle, out in the middle of the platz, was a little café. It had tables and chairs for the customers to sit and watch the foot traffic on the platz. It made us, at 21 and 19, feel continental as we sat sipping Coca-Cola and lemon, something we had never had before and that seemed so continental. The combination was a European one that was really quite good and just different enough to make us feel special. We were in Europe and seeing things that were European.

That small thing marked us. We have remembered it for the rest of our lives. At times, it is almost as if it were yesterday. We have not had the opportunity to go back to Europe and would love to. Of course, Ella couldn’t. Not now, Not with her disability. Where, after all, would she charge her scooter, or even get it on the airplane.

But to a young married couple coming into a relationship that was enhanced by the distance from our families, it was wonderful. Not every young couple gets to have a European honeymoon.

I was thinking about that tonight for no real reason. It is a special memory: us sitting on the platz drinking Coke with lemon watching people from another culture living in their world. It was so different from ours, yet so similar.

I learned enough German that we could get around easily and do what we wanted. We wore German clothing and I got my hair cut by a German barber. We blended in as much as we could. It was a good time.

It was almost 40 years ago and it seems like just a short time ago. I love my wife and am glad I got to take that little 19 year old to Europe to immerse her in that culture. I am grateful that the little 19 year old allowed me to share her life and gave me her love. I will love her until I die.