"Thanks for making our day that much more special!" by richiecdisc

On our most recent trip to Germany we not only found out that indeed you can go home but also that home is a place in your heart as much as a physical entity. We also found out that family and friends are what make home so special and that we are blessed to have an amazing conglomeration in not only Germany and the US, but also all around the world. We would like to thank from the bottoms of our hearts the VTers who made our special day all that more special. They came from great distances and at considerable cost to add a truly global feel to our gathering. Special thanks to Sandy & Dave for not only shooting tons of photos but also for so quickly organizing them for not only us but also D’s parents. It will keep this day in our hearts for a very long time and make our wait to a Christmas in Germany seem that much shorter. Thank You!

One often hears you can never go home and that becomes more true the more places you’ve called home over the years. What are our lives but a quilt sewn of the people and places we’ve filled them with? I’ve been lucky to have many such people and places enter not only my life but a special place in my heart as well. As a writer, I’ve revisited them often so my feeling is that you can always go home, any time you can immerse your thoughts in a time you previously spent time in. Well, yes you might say, but can you taste that delectable lobster you happened upon in Maine or smell that whiff of curry as you walked down that early morning street in search of breakfast in Delhi? Sometimes I think I can but mostly it just gives me a hankering to go back in the flesh and find out if they’re still there. Often times they are and other times they unfortunately have gone. But that’s okay, you can find other things in their place. One place I now return to quite regularly due to my choice of a wife is Germany. It’s one place that doesn’t change much due to a strong sense of tradition. That said, it’s been 17 long months since my darling Doreen has been back to her native homeland. You can read about the ordeal in the travelogue “Welcome to the United States of America” below. At any rate, we ARE going back in the middle of May to not only see her country with new eyes but also her family and friends that long for her return perhaps even more than she looks forward to going home. We count the days and mark them off on the calendar. We imagine and talk about the things we’ll enjoy the most on our return. Surely some things will let us down a bit but others will fill us with a joy that even our imaginations have not allowed in our mental forays that have kept us sane in all this time away. Yes, sometimes I can feel the cool shade of a leafy chestnut tree and even see the sun as it peaks its way through the thick foliage above as I ponder life’s pleasures in my favorite Munich beer garden. The salt of a freshly baked pretzel is the perfect accompaniment to that insanely huge mug of beer that sits in front of me....we are home!