As I mentioned in the previous post Jenny and Mat's father's family have been longtime friends with a family in the Heidelberg area. This is Isolde's family, whom I talked about in the previous post. It was during our stay in the Heidelberg area that we had "ein Treffen," or a reunion with Isolde's mother and family. I'm still learning myself how these two families came together, but it's a wonderful story and I hope I can share it accurately.
In short, these two families are connected through Jenny and Mat's grandfather (Grandad Joe.) During the final days of World War II Isolde's family lived on the outskirts of Heidelberg (where they live now.) As the Nazi regime fell Germany became divided by allied forces who tried to restore peace to the country, and the neighborhood Isolde's family lived in ended up being occupied by U.S. forces. Grandad Joe led a group of soldiers that reported to this neighborhood, and they came in and occupied Isolde's family home and made it into a make-shift office, which forced the family to live outside in a shed. Of course taking over someone's home is never a good thing, but it was the war and it was a dark time for everyone. This is just something that happened all over Germany during the war's final days. So Joe and his soldiers used the family's home as an office and resided there for a while in the neighborhood. During this time some of the soldiers in Joe's group unfortunately tried to steal some of the family's heirlooms (wedding rings, valuables, etc.) This went on for a while until Joe told his soldiers that this was unacceptable, and he returned the stolen items back to the family. Unfortunately the soldiers kept trying to take the family's valuables despite Joe's warnings. So finally Joe took all the family's valuables and buried them in the backyard and hid them from the rest of the soldiers. Now we're unclear whether or not the family knew or not that Joe had hid their valuables. Either way, they eventually found them all buried in the backyard and the heirlooms remained with the family. Isolde's family never forgot Joe and what he did for the family, and both sides kept in touch over the years. Joe passed away in the early 90's but the family continued to stay in touch through Isolde. Isolde visited Jenny and Mat's father numerous times in the states, and this time it was our turn meet everyone in Germany.
So Isolde's family gave us a warm welcome and we all visited for a while. Isolde speaks English as well as German but most of her family only speaks German, including her mother. Then of course our family only speaks English. Fortunately I've been taking German lessons since January, so I was able to communicate with the family a little bit. Isolde told me later that her mother and family were very touched that we tried to converse with them in German. Anyway, we had a great visit. Isolde's mother showed us the original house the soldiers stayed in (which is next door to where they live now), and she shared with us what the neighborhood was like back in those days. They treated us to some delicious homemade cakes, and we all passed around old photos. It was great.
On a personal note I felt truly blessed to meet this family and be able to converse with them in German. To me this is what this whole European experience is all about. To be able to sit down and connect with people from a different culture in their own language is something I'll never forget. It made me appreciate more all the lessons I've been taking since January. Anyway, I know Jenny and I will continue to travel around Europe and continue to see amazing things, but I will never forget meeting this wonderful family and being a part of this wonderful story. It was an amazing experience that will always be a highlight for me during this whole European experience.
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