Memories – Page 40

This is getting serious now, namely our departure for Berlin. Just now I looked at all the photos we took in June 2010 while we were over there. There’s very good public transport in Berlin. We traveled by suburban train, bus, underground or tram.

Berlin Undergroundtrain — A Berlin underground-train

DSCN0321 — You can also travel by boat. Berlin has many, many water-ways.

DSCN0436 — On the right is a suburban train, on the left an inter-city train (Regional-Bahn)

DSCN1090 — Wall-Decoration at an underground train-station

DSCN1092 — Waiting for the underground, usually between two and three minutes!

DSCN0299 — Entrance to an underground station

DSCN1076 — A sign for an a Italian Coffee Shop

DSCN1078 — Here we had some very good coffee.

DSCN0438 — Sculptures to remember the children who had to escape Berlin during WW II

Humboldt's home — Humboldt’s Home, may be open for visitors on a Monday

In 2010 we stayed in Berlin for about one month, and for one week we stayed at my brother’s place ca. 100 km north of Berlin. On our next trip we’re going to stay in Berlin for two months and also for one week at my brother’s place which is in a very secluded little hamlet surrounded by wonderful waterways and wooded areas. I hope I’ll be able to walk a lot. Peter is planning on doing some running.

Looking at photos from Berlin from 2010 brings back memories. I wonder how many pictures we’ll be able to shoot on our next trip! In about 15 days there may be some postings from Berlin. So stay tuned for this!

I find calm and inner peace reflecting on something like this. We found this verse the other day when we were walking with Caroline around the Nan Tien Temple.

We took the following photos after we had a very satisfying vegetarian lunch in the temples downstairs tea-rooms.

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The ramp leads up to our kitchen door. Gaby in her wheelchair at age 16 1/2. From left to right: Her Papa, Brother, Mama and Sister.

The other day I came across some notes I made about some conversations in our family towards the end of summer of 1974 when Gaby was sixteen, Monika fifteen, Martin close to fourteen, Peter close to thirty-nine and I also thirty-nine.

ONE AFTERNOON IN FEBRUARY 1974

Gaby, my daughter, sits in her wheelchair in the kitchen close to the open door. Peter, her father, helps her to sort out her record-club order.

I am outside close to the open door. I am stretched out on the lawn under a large umbrella, taking notes of the following conversation.

Gaby: I should’ve written on that form ‘please hurry’. Gee, I’m glad I’m going to get that record at last. Will you put all this away now, please?

Peter: Wie, das willste auch aufheben? Das ist doch nur Reklame, Menschenskind!
What, you’re going to keep that too? These are only adds, for heaven’s sake!

Gaby: I keep everything from the record-club.

Peter: So, wo kommt das hin? So, where does this go?

Gaby: Right at the back of the folder. It’s nice paper, isn’t it?

Peter: Nee.

Gaby: That’s the second record I’ve ordered. Are they going to send me a receipt?

Peter: No, das ist covered. The balance is going to show it. Kommt das hier rin?

Gaby: No, it goes into the blue folder.

Son Martin comes up the ramp. He carries his school-case., greets me with ‘Hi, Mum’, enters the house. A little later daughter Monika follows, also with school- case and saying ‘Hi, Mum!’ I say ‘Hi, Martin! Hi, Monika!’ As Martin enters the
house, Peter and Gaby are still deep in conversation.

Peter: Martin, was sagt man denn, wenn man hier hereinkommt? — Good-day!
What do you say when you come in here? — Good-day!

Martin: You were talking.

Monika says ‘Hi’ as she enters. And Peter says: ‘Hallo, Monika!’

A bit later Peter and Martin talk with Gaby about her school-certificate.

Martin: That bit of scrap-paper, is that all you’ve got?

Peter: Mehr braucht se doch nicht. Das ist das certificate.
She doesn’t need anything else. This is the certificate.

Martin: Actually you shouldn’t have passed since you didn’t work right through
the year.

Peter: Hat se gut gearbeitet, hat se auch bestanden.
Oh, she worked well, that’s how she passed.

Martin: But she didn’t arbeite gut. She didn’t work well.

Peter: Nun lass man gut sein. Sie hat schon gut gearbeitet.
Now leave her alone. She did work quite well.

A bit later

Monika: Gee, it’s hot! Pat and Donna are coming in a minute. They want a lift over to
Warilla Grove. Who’s going to take us to Warilla Grove? It’s late already, you
know?

(calling from outside)
Uta: Papa’s going to take you!

Monika: Better hurry up!

Gaby: Papa, don’t forget to mail my record-order! The letter-box gets emptied soon!

Peter: Wann musst Du auf der Arbeit sein, Monika?
When do you have to be at work, Monika?

Monika: We have to leave within the next five or ten minutes.

Peter: Ich fahre erst tanken. I go to get some petrol first.

Peter leaves in a hurry.

Pat and Donna come up the ramp. Monika greets them and goes inside with them.

I hear a terrible noise from the neighbours’ backyard: One of their sons goes on his mini-bike round and round in the backyard.

A bit later Wayne comes up the ramp. He carries a beach-towel.

Uta: Hi, Wayne! Do you want to go to the pool with Martin?

Waine: Yeah.

Uta: Best thing you can do in this weather!

Waine: Yeah.

Wayne enters the house. Peter returns from getting petrol. Soon after he leaves with Monika, Pat and Donna in the car. (At Warilla Grove Monika is going to get some training at the Woolworths cash register.)

Martin and Wayne leave for the pool. The mini-bike has stopped making
noise. I enter the house.

Gaby: Heh, Mama, you have to buy some food today, don’t you?

Uta: That’s right.

Gaby: When are you going?

Uta: Later.

Gaby: Better go before five thirty.

Uta: Yes, I’ll do that.

Gaby: How much money have you got?

Uta: I don’t know.

(A bit later.)

Gaby: Mama, can you move my left foot? (I do it.)
Can I go on the Pfanne when Papa gets back?

Uta: Yes, sure.

(She means when Peter gets back, she wants him to lie her on her bed, so that I can put her on her bed-pan.)

Gaby: Can I have a Vitamin C tablet?

I give her one. There’s some more noise from the mini-bike. Peter
returns.

Peter: I just remembered, I forgot to post your letter.

Gaby: God, how could you forget! — Can you post the letter, Mama? You have to go now because the letter-box gets emptied soon.

Peter: Mensch, ist mir warm! My goodness, I feel so hot and sweaty!

Uta: Willst Du nicht zum Pool gehen? Martin ist mit Wayne zum Pool
gegangen. Wouldn’t you like to go to the swimming pool? Martin did go
to the pool with Waine.

Peter: Ich bin schon ewig nicht am Pool gewesen. It’s been ages since I went
to the pool.

Uta: Ein bisschen Schwimmen würde Dir gut tun. A bit of swimming would be
good for you!

Apparently Gaby wants her letter posted before she goes to the toilet.
I get ready to post the letter and do some shopping. The mini-bike makes
an awful lot of noise again.

Today I selected a few photos to give to David when we next see him. Before I inserted the photos in a little photo album, I scanned them all. I want now to share these photos with my blogger friends. David did get to know Gaby while she lived in Ferguson Lodge which is a place for disabled people in a wheelchair. In this place people were well looked after. However it was institutionalized care. Gaby was very happy when in 1989 David made it possible for her to move into her own home. She was 32 at the time and Davidwas 40.

The picture of Peter holding baby Caroline was taken ca. March 1979, visiting Gaby at Ferguson Lodge with friend Ron Bates.

Next to Gaby is David’s father, on the left David’s mother, on the right friend Coral

Gaby has a birthday cake in front of her, David is on the right, David’s mother left

David and Gaby

ca. 1973 when Gaby still lived with us: Mum, Dad, brother Martin, sister Monika

David and Gaby came to visit for Christmas celebrations. David is Father Christmas and Caroline, who just turned 6, and the twins (5 1/2) have fun. Behind Gaby is Monika, the twins’ Mum.

Caroline and friend visit Gaby at Ferguson Lodge

Give thanks to the

Lord, call on his

name; make known

among the nations

what he has done.

Sing to him, sing

praise to him; tell of

all his wonderful acts.

Psalm 105; 1-2

Men and women are different. So be it. John Gray puts it this way: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. I read this particular book of his in the 1990s. Looking at it today, it probably still makes quite a bit of sense to me. He calls his book:

“A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR IMPROVING COMMUNICATION AND GETTING WHAT YOU WANT IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP”

I just picked at random one page, and the following statement caught my eye:

“Men are motivated and empowered when they feel needed . . .

Women are motivated and empowered when they feel cherished.”

I remember in the 1990s, after my mother’s death was still fresh on my mind, I felt there was not much communication between Peter and myself. Peter must have felt a bit like this too. One day, when he had to see his doctor for some reason, I think he mentioned something about difficulties in the marriage relationship. What did the doctor say? He urged Peter to buy me flowers.

Peter then told me, he would definitely not buy me any flowers. Maybe to him it didn’t look as though I should be rewarded with flowers! I didn’t complain. But it took a while before he finally bought me flowers. He still loves to buy be flowers on special occasions and sometimes on the spur of the moment.

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I used to often cut out articles from the Sydney Morning Herald. Two of these newspaper cuttings I found in the above mentioned book. Both of them are from 1998. I still find both articles a very good read. I thought maybe some bloggers would also like to read these relationship articles from the 1990s. So I scanned them.

Larry Beinhart said in 1998 that Bill and Hillary are an enviable match. Do you agree and does it still apply?

Helen Trinca wrote in 1998 what a mutually beneficial partnership is. Do you agree with her?

Here now are the two articles.

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Weekend in winter with Caroline, Monika and Monika’s five children (twin sons and three daughters)

Caroline is 21, the twins are nearly 21, Natasha is going on nine, Roxy is 7 and Krystal is 3.

Grandma Uta with Krystal

In June 1992 Martin’s and Elizabeth’s baby girl Justine was born. Little Justine was 18 months when Martin and Elizabeth came with their children Tristan and little Justine to stay with us at Sussex Inlet. Monika’s twins, Troy and Ryan, were with us too and of course Caroline. We and the three children spent already Christmas in the holiday unit, Martin came with his family a bit after Christmas.

For us it was tradition to have ‘bunte Teller’ with sweets and some fruit for Christmas Eve. The kids loved to have this special treat for Christmas. So ‘bunte Teller’ had to be made up for all of us. As you can see from the picture, we also had candles, and for Peter and me there was wine. I think I felt already somewhat tired by the time we were ready for the celebrations. There’s so much to organize moving into the unit! And it looks like it that for Christmas there was some extra organizing to do.

I’m afraid I don’t look my best in the picture. And maybe the kids were getting a bit tired already as well. But I wanted to show what the ‘bunte Teller’ looked like. It’s possible the drink after an exhausting day gave me the rest. I think we had booked the unit for two weeks for the summer holidays. All the units (fourteen of them) were booked out. For New year’s Eve the manager had a roasted pig organized . All the holiday-makers celebrated New Year’s Eve together on the tennis courts. Outside tables and chairs could be brought to this venue and the roasting pig wasn’t far away. There was plenty of drink available too.

I remember at this holiday place I always like to get up early To go for an early morning walk was immensely enjoyable. I am still like this, that I like to get up very early. Even when I go to bed late, I like to get up early. To have a two weeks holiday close to the water and the beach in the middle of summer is wonderful. It’s so good to have close family to spend the holidays with. For sure it was another great holiday at Sussex Inlet.

Christmas Eve with the ‘Bunte Teller’

With sunflower seeds you can always attract a few lorikeets

Caroline with kangaroo

Little Justine loves the kangaroo

Martin is the one in the red top, I am in the background with a red hat

The young ones gather around the sign (tradition!)

Little Justine for a bit of a rest?

In 1989 my brother Peter Uwe came to visit us. He is the brother who is now a retired teacher and lives in Mecklenburg/Vorpommern, north of Berlin. In 1989 he was still a teacher in Berlin. He took at the time a one year leave from his teaching job. During this time he traveled the world. In this world trip he included a longer stay in Australia. Part of the time he was sailing and diving near the Barrier Reef in Queensland, but a few weeks he had set aside to visit us. We were able to show him around a bit in our beautiful area. Unfortunately it rained most of the time. Only during our one weeks stay with him at Sussex Inlet we had beautiful sunshine. That was so lucky!

I remember how Peter Uwe was really good at organizing. For instance, we had to take one weeks food supply to Sussex Inlet. Peter wrote out all the meals we wanted to cook and what sort of food was needed for all the meals for every day of the week. So we went shopping together. It all had to fit into our (yellow) station wagon. Apart from the two Peters, Caroline and myself, as well as the twins had to fit into the car. The twins were really keen to come with us again to this beautiful holiday place. They loved it there very much. Of course, we all did love it !

Because we had so much stuff to take along, we decided I would catch the train with the children. The train went only as far as Nowra (Bomederry). Peter drove Peter Uwe with all the supplies to the campsite first. Then he drove back to Nowra to pick us up from the station and take us to the camp. As I said before, the last part of the drive to the camp is a 13 km dirt- road. We always enjoyed this trip along the dirt-road which went right through the bush. We would wind the car-windows down to smell the beautiful bush-air. We caught glimpses of the water (Sussex Inlet) several times along this road. The sun would shine through the trees. The water glittered through the tree-branches. Marvelous!

When we arrived at the campsite, Peter Uwe had everything in the unit already under control. All the stuff had been packed away. So we could soon have our tea and apple-turnovers with fresh cream. Peter usually picked up these beautiful cakes at a certain bakery when he went through Berry. These apple-turnovers were always a special treat for us. The kids usually reminded Peter not to forget to stop in Berry to buy the cakes.

A place called Greenpatch is 18 km away from where we stayed. (I mentioned this place in my previous blog.) We went for an excursion to this place on one day and took lots of pictures with lorikeets.

Not far from where we were staying at the inlet there is a long beach. You can walk along it for hours. There is the open sea all along the way, called the Tasman Sea which is part of the Pacific Ocean. When we look out across the ocean we are always joking: ‘Yea, and in this direction is New Zealand!’ As though we could swim all the way to New Zealand!

Peter Uwe loved to jog along the beach. But he never made it to the end of it. Peter Uwe made lovely sculptures out of the sand right next to the ocean. There exist some photos of it. Sadly I could not find any of these amongst the pictures that we have. There’s only one picture of Ryan sitting in a boat of sand. I remember one day we spent hours and hours with Peter Uwe and the kids at some spot near the ocean. I am sure being creative with sand was an inspiration for the kids. Certainly they never did get bored.

I think we did go for swims in the ocean and in the inlet at high tide. It was April and still warm enough for a swim. However I could not find pictures of us in the water from that year. At nighttime we played lots of games with the children, such as card-games or board-games.

Caroline was ten, the twins were still nine.