Yesterday, I stood with one foot in the former East Germany and one foot in the former West Germany.
I saw the outline of where the wall used to divide this country unnaturally into two different worlds.
In the car, my cousins told me what life was like when their country was divided into two. They were small children during WWII and witnessed the division and the reunification of their beloved home. "Every year, we come now to this part of Germany," said one cousin, "because when it was divided, we could not come here at all."She told me that she lived for one year of the war in an industrial town that was bombed repeatedly. She told me of the fear she lived with. I told her that my city has never witnessed a war. Never a bomb or an enemy plane flying overhead.
"Yes, you cannot imagine what it is like," she said. I agreed. "My children, also. They cannot imagine what it is like." After a moment: "It is better so." A look of sadness tells me everything I need to know--I don't know want to know.
Now this place is beautiful. Peaceful. A place untouched by anything except memories of a wall. We stand in the fields of flowers and eat fresh cherries from a picturesque town full of half-timbered homes.
"I have a suggestion to make," says my cousin. "Take a picture of the flowers to remember this place." She wants me to remember the beauty of Germany and put the ugliness out of my head. I snap a few photos gladly and prepare to leave. A sign by the parking area says that it's nice we are here. I agree.I think about war and division and unity and fields of flowers and my small, insignificant town that has never been bombed. It is nice that I am here, and it's nice to have a country of peace and freedom to go home too. It is too big for me to wrap my brain around right now. So, so much that is important and I cannot feel the weight of what it means.
Happy 4th of July to all of you.
Happy Fourth! I remember the line used to be like night and day. Not just a tractor line. So much has changed, but I think it is still important to remember what happened so we don't let those mistakes repeat. I am surprised today when people ask me how to spell my last nae and I tell them like the city and they look at me blankly as if they have never heard of Berlin. I am thinking to myself, yeah it is only the city that half my family was held captive in for half their lives. When my uncles Lumber mill was taken from him, when my cousins had to save up soda for seven months just to have enough when we came to visit, where the simple question of asking my uncle what color he would paint his house was met with the answer "Whatever color I can get. Yes, it is nice to see how beautiful Germany is, it always has been, but it is important to remember that once Men tried their hardest to make it ugly. Sorry for the rant, as you can tell it is a subject close to home. So cool that you got to go see it. I can't wait to take my girls next year.
ReplyDeleteHappy 4th Julianna. I'm doing my bills. I've decided to call it "mucking out the stables" - a much more pleasant occupation. I was so glad to be able to read your blog to distract myself.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, your blog is amazing. So are you. Kerry and I went to Germany to get Mark. I loved it (but it was winter). I hate heat too. Thanks for the great blog.
Julie (your aunt-in-law)
A great message of blessing-counting. Thanks for your thoughtfulness.
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