Weddings of Three Sisters

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Erich and Elsbeth married in April 1932

My parents - Elsbeth and Erich

My parents – Elsbeth and Erich

It was a difficult courtship because Elsbeth was promised to another man by her father and Erich was simply not good enough. She did not give in to her parents and finally their wedding day came. Erich was teased about his inability to give his wife expensive gifts… and it came to the point when they got up and left the wedding party.

Johanna and Robert married in March 1933

Aunt Johanna and Robert S wedding

Aunt Johanna and Robert S wedding

Robert was welcomed into the family with open arms because, unlike Erich, he came from a wealthy family. He could give his wife a horse if he wanted too while Erich could only afford a whip.

Emmi and Erich L. married in 1929 (?)

Aunt Emmi and Erich L wedding

Aunt Emmi and Erich L wedding

Looking at this wedding photo one would think of rather a different party – certainly not a wedding. Notice the black dress of the bride? She was not allowed to wear “white” because she was pregnant. Her Erich was also “just a tradesman”, maybe pregnancy was her way of getting her own way.

Meet the Players

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My Mother’s Family

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandmother and Grandfather – my mother’s parents were a very unlikely couple. He was stern, introverted, always sat thinking in his beloved pergola, his chin on the cane he held in his hands. The pergola was attached to the very old city wall that ran through his gardens. Whenever we visited, always on Sundays, that’s where he could be found. Grandma would send us to say “hi” to him, but he never smiled, just looked at us. The pergola was totally covered with green climbers. I remember the sun shining through the leaves and as a child with an active imagination I often thought he was some kind of a saint because of the sun giving him a halo.

Grandmother on the other hand was outgoing. She cooked the best jam I ever tasted. I loved it with a passion. Black currants and plums cooked for a long time. She knew that it was the only thing I wanted when visiting. When the rest of the guests had coffee and cake I would get her home baked bread with this jam! My mouth would start to water before we even left home. She always served it with a big smile to me and stroked my hair. That was as far as expressions or gestures of love ever went.

Grandma with 3 of her daughters, Emmi, Johanna and Elsbeth

Grandma with 3 of her daughters, Emmi, Johanna and Elsbeth

I do not have a photo of all Grandma’s children, my aunts and the only uncle. In this photo taken sometime in the early 1940’s we have my mother Elsbeth (right) with her sisters Johanna (centre) and Emmi (left). The youngest sister Elisabeth (the princess) was always off somewhere and Carl made himself scarce by finding work in the barns.

Chapter 2 continued

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Completing Father’s family

Great Grandmother and Fritze

Great Grandmother and Fritze

Great Grandmother had beautiful apples in a bowl. I was three years old and asked her if I could eat one. She smiled and said “Go right ahead my dear.” I couldn’t bite into one; it was hard and kind of slippery. Now she laughed and said “Oh Gila, you can’t eat those, they are not real, they are just for decoration.”

Fritze was born later in her life when no more children were expected. He was the baby brother to my Granny Martha, my dad’s mother. Technically an uncle to my dad he was, in reality, a year younger than his nephew. The boys grew up like brothers. Trouble started when both fell in love with the same girl. The problem caused the break-up of the boy’s relationship with each other. Not only that, it remained an open sore and became another problem for a member if the next generation, – me, – many years later.

Granny as I knew her

Granny as I knew her

Grandfather - Martha's husband

Grandfather – Martha’s husband

Chapter 2 continued

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Paternal family continued

My father, Erich (left) with his younger brother Curt

My father, Erich (left) with his younger brother Curt

The first photo is of the two brothers, my father Erich and his younger brother Curt. I especially placed it because I wanted you to see it. It is one of the photos I rescued from the manure pile. The Russians had emptied our big silver bowl containing all the family photos on that unlikely place. It is one of the very few photos that exist of our family before the end of WWII. Of all the ones I rescued, this is in the worst shape. No, we did not have it restored for sentimental reasons.

Paternal Grandmother with her five children. Left to right in rear: Curt, Lisa and Erich. Irene on Granny's right and Gertrud (Tutti) on her left.

Paternal Grandmother with her five children. Left to right in rear: Curt, Lisa and Erich. Irene on Granny’s right and Gertrud (Tutti) on her left.

The second photo shows my Granny with all her living children – but taken about eight years after the war. I have none from the time before 1945.

Stay tuned for one more to complete my paternal family

Meet the Players – Chapter 2

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My father’s family, starting with my grandparents:

Friedrich Wilhelm

Friedrich Wilhelm

My grandfather Friedrich Wilhelm married Martha. They had five living children: Gertrud – Erich – Irene – Curt and Lisa. These people play a huge part in my story and I think it is nice for you, my readers, to have a visual image of them. I will start with Grandpa Friedrich Wilhelm, whom I never knew personally. He

Martha

Martha

was only 54 when he died, a few years before I was born. I loved him, knew him through a very large photograph over Granny’s bed and the stories she told. This is an old photo I have of Grandma when she was a young woman and fell in love with a black smith and actually worked very hard all her life. Stay tuned…

eBooks Too!

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eBook Versions Released

eBook readerYou can now find eBook versions of “We Don’t Talk About That” on both the Amazon and Kobo bookstores. Of the two, the Kindle (Amazon) version is easier to download and gives better screen rendition.

As you read this book you will smile, laugh, cry, shake your head and wonder… maybe even have a sleepless night or two, but in the end you will feel “richer” and thankful to be living where you live.

Hurray – It’s Out!

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The book can be ordered now

Book buying“We Don’t Talk About That” is now available from the Friesen Press Bookstore. Go to  the on-line bookstore to place your order.

Happy shopping, enjoy the book and please feel free to comment by clicking on the balloon above right.

 

Valentine’s Day

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We can “TALK ABOUT…” Valentine’s Day

heartsHappy Valentine’s Day to all of you! Do you remember your most “memorable” one?
I would love to hear about it!

Valentine’s Day

“Mommy, I have thirty two cards! Look, there are five of the same and I gave out ten of this one! I wish we could buy all different ones next year.” My nine year old daughter had all her Valentine’s cards spread out on the kitchen table and had put the ones with the same pictures on top of each other like in a card game. Her older sister, by just fifteen months, looked at me, and expressed her thoughts: “Mom, I am sad that you only have cards from Dad and us. Why don’t your friends send you any?”

“Valentine’s is more for kids and teenagers or lovers and grownups don’t really need to send cards to show how much they like each other. We just know anyway”, I said.

“But Mom, I know how happy you are when you get letters or cards for your birthday or Christmas and Easter, why not Valentine’s?”

That question was hard to answer but I tried: “Valentine’s Day does not seem important enough to sit down and write to all our friends and relatives, and just imagine how much it would cost to mail them because adults don’t go to school and hand them out like you do.”

The children were quiet and thought about it. My older daughter insisted “I still think it’s sad. I’m really glad Valentine’s Day is a day when you don’t have to feel embarrassed to let your friends know that you love them or at least like them. I did not give a card to two kids in my class because I don’t like them. I gave a card to all the teachers and they are grownups. They were happy and smiled.”

Our conversation about the card giving petered out and the girls continued checking all their cards while I went on with my handiwork darning the holes in some socks. It was cozy and quiet as we sat companionably around the table.

Snow suit boy “Eric should be home by now” I commented. I started to get a bit worried because my four year old son’s kindergarten class had finished half an hour ago. The school was only five minutes away and he usually came home right away. Just then the front door was opened and closed with a crush, we heard him stomp his feet to get the snow off and then take his boots off. He came into the kitchen in his snow suit und looked like a Michelin Man or a warmly dressed snowman with a frosty red face. He came to my chair, looked at me with the clear, really blue eyes he had inherited from my father, held out a single yellow rose and said earnestly: “Mommy, I love you. You are the bestest mommy in the whole wide world.” The tears shot into my eyes. The three of us stared at the little man; I accepted the rose and hugged him to me, hardly feeling his small body through the thick, heavy snow suit. His cheeks were cold, he smelled like fresh air and snow the way only Winnipeg winters could make you smell. He gave me a wet kiss and his lips were cold too but he had this incredible warm glow in his eyes and I knew: this glow, the love for his mother and the pride that he was able to give her a rose went through his whole being.

Valentine rose“Mom, I wanted to give you a red rose but the lady in the flower shop told me those are for girlfriends.”

Almost half a century later I like to say that I am glad that he was not a snowman. The incredible warmth that enveloped us at that moment in time would have made him melt. Maybe even me in the process. I cannot remember any other declaration of love in my whole life, innocently stating a simple fact.

The Next Stage

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Proof Reading

We Don't Talk About That

Book Mock-up

Finally I can talk about it again: The manuscript of my book “We Don’t Talk About That” has just arrived for my first “Revision”.  As soon as I complete my job and all is correct the next stages of  the publishing process can begin after I have accepted a second round of revision. It now is up to me how soon I finish all my re-reading and then the book will hopefully be available  in February.

A New Year Dawns

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Reflections on years past

Towards the end of each year one thinks of ALL the people who only pop up occasionally in our mind during the year. It’s almost as if one is saying “Good Bye” not only to the old year but also to our life lived during that year. It was sad for me because I am very aware of how little is left. So many of my relatives and friends went on that “last trip without return” in 2013. But – that’s how it is. The generations follow each other and when you are little or young you don’t realize how fast it actually happens. A minute ago I was a little girl with braids and now I am writing my memories.
My book “We Don’t Talk About That” is expected to be available in February, 2014.
Photo: Towards the end of the year one thinks of ALL the people who only pop up occassionally in our mind during the year. It's almost as if saying "Good Bye" not only to the old year but also to our life lived during that year. It was sad for me because I am very aware of how little is left. So many of my relatives and friends went on that "last trip without return" in 2013. But - that's how it is. The generations follow each other and when you are little or young you don't realize how fast it actually happens. A minute ago I was a little girl with braids and now I am debating if I should let my hair go gray...