Switzerland
1987
The welcoming party lasted 2 months and Christmas and New Year were right in the middle of it. At Christmas we sang lots of songs, exchanged gifts, and had a wonderful super at Martin's, Susanne's brother's, house. He speaks Spanish so I was able to talk with him. Susan's mother, affectionately called Grossy was very nice to Chris and me. We were able to speak in French. She made Chris, Florian and Stefan matching clothes. In the morning Susanne had a birthday cake for Christopher and we had a birthday party. Susanne's sister, Ester put on a puppet show for all of us and especially for the kids. The first time we went swimming I was so amazed at the modern facilities. Warm water pool for the small children, saunas and restaurant, all open 7 days a week from morning till night. We went a lot and Christopher soon started swimming without floaters. Our apartment was right at the bottom of a very high hill and it was covered by enough snow for tobogganing. I was happy that I brought my cross country skis.
We slowly got to know Susanne's family and friends and they got to know us. We went every weekend to a different part of Switzerland. I was used to just asking for tap water in restaurants and was rather frustrated by Susanne insisting that we buy the expensive bottled water as was the custom in Switzerland. We got snow stuck for a week in a beautiful medieval town in the Italian part of Switzerland inside a 300 year old bakery. It had a fireplace higher than me, and we barbecued 2 chickens in it. The children were so beautiful. Florian spoke English more and more. Stefan and Chris spoke for a while their own language that sounded Arabic to Susanne.
We could not agree on how Christopher was to be treated. Susanne treated Chris the same way she treated her own children. We agreed that she would be the one deciding the house rules. She refused to have a TV in the house and she set strict bed times. The children were not allowed to sleep with us in our big bed so they asked me to sleep with them. I enjoyed the ritual of reading them a book and sleeping with them. I would sleep with the first one who asked and usually ended up falling asleep. I respected Susanne's house rules, except when she went out and left me alone with the children. Then I allowed them to stay up late. One day, Susanne was stopped by the police as she was driving home from visiting her friends. She didn't have her driving license with her so the policemen came up to the apartment with her. They came in to see me and kids dressed up as cowboys spread out on the floor sleeping. It must have looked like a crime scene.
We went in the woods occasionally and Susanne made bows and arrows for the kids and organized all their activities. Going to McDonald was out of the question. But more often, I went with the children alone and let them decide where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do. They usually chose to slowly walk to the tram station taking hours to walk thru a farm on the way. They would climb the trees and look at the animals. Then we went to the swimming pool and later on to McDonald where it was like a private club where we met the same families week after week. We usually came home on the last tram after midnight. The kids loved to walk around the city and see the street artists. A few times they set up a hat on the street and tried to get people to put in a few coins just by being clowns. Once a policeman complained that the kids should be in bed and not clowning on the streets.
I insisted that Christopher be treated differently regarding his vaccinations, medications, and feedings, because he had different needs. Susanne argued that there must be house rules for all and that the rules for eating was that if you didn't finish your meal at mealtimes, you were not allowed to eat once the table had been cleared and you had to wait for the next meal time or snack time, and only at the kitchen table. As a compromise, for the first few years, whenever Chris was hungry before going to bed, I gave him apple and cheese slices in bed.
Susanne was a great cook. She cooked her best meals when she had to improvise. Unfortunately she was against buying bananas, my favorite fruit because of the exploitation to the plantation workers who grew bananas instead of the vegetables to feed themselves. This was the same argument she used to boycott McDonald.
Work
I looked for work and found the market to be very good. They needed engineers so much that they paid me 200 SFr just to drive up for interviews. The best offer I had was 5 minutes bike ride from where we lived, so I accepted that. It was a job in the training and documentation section in the sales department of a very large telecommunications manufacturing company employing 15,000 people. One of my duties was to provide training courses for the equipment they developed, manufactured, and exported. It was very exciting work in a very relevant field of communications that was experiencing times of revolutionary changes.
On my last job in Canada 20 years ago, if I needed to write a letter to someone asking for some data, I needed to hand write it, and give it to a secretary to type. The next day I could edit it, and I had to wait one week for an answer. I had this very spacious office to myself on the newest and highest skyscraper in Calgary. The view was magnificent, but the commuting was hectic, involving a 2 hour bus ride each way that was unforgettably uncomfortable. Especially in winter when I had to stay standing in the crowded bus stuck in traffic.
In Switzerland, I had a computer and it was great not to be so dependent on someone to type everything for you. I had my own computer in my office for writing text and for doing drawings. My computer had a spreadsheet program called Excell. It was able to do what I did with the nutrition analysis program I wrote for my first computer 2 years ago. What took me a few hours to do with my Timex 1000, the computer in my office did much better and nicer in a few minutes. Instead of cassettes for memory, my new office computer used floppy disks, and a few years later, mini discs which could store a lot more data and transfer it a lot faster.
I rode my bike thru a peaceful woods 5 minutes from work, and I had a family and kids to come home to for my lunch breaks. My boss Renato Scala was very clever, humble, and patient and with time. I looked on him as a guru. The equipment our company designed manufactured and sold was at that time the state of the art made for the PTT, the Swiss owned Post, Telephone and Telegraph Company that bought the very best custom ordered equipment from the local suppliers. One of the more successful suppliers was Hasler AG, my employer. The company started by Mr. Hasler in 1852 ended up to be run by a foundation as he died childless in 1948. He was very generous to his workers, providing them with housing and programs for their children.
The Swiss like other countries worldwide decided to deregulate their communications infrastructure and buy their equipment from an open international market; Hasler AG realized that this cozy relationship with Swiss PTT was coming to an end convinced the competitors to form an international consortium in order to survive. They called the company Ascom, and having lots of cash, they became big very fast.
I worked with a small group of 5 and they were very nice to me. My workplace was about 15 minute walk thru a wooded park. I had to be married to get the job, and we decided to go for it and got married in a civil ceremony. I started on a German language course on company time and bought a bike to ride to work and a motorbike to go to my English classes. The work proved very interesting and I had a great boss. I came home for lunch for 2 hours, and found it a very pleasant break in the day. I kept on remembering the commute to work when I lived in the suburbs of Calgary and had to commute in a crowded bus.
The equipment that I wrote documentation and give training was equipment that connected 30 telephones on one side, and multiplexed them all to one copper wire pair on the other side to transmit them to transmission equipment 100 meters away. It was called MUX-2H, and needed 3 boxes the size of microwave ovens, filled with hardware that had to be programmed by changing the position of jumpers on the pluggable units. It was all very complicated and boring to explain. All alarms and status indications were red, orange and green LEDs.
The technology was rapidly changing and the next generation of equipment called the UMUX, the size of a microwave oven allowed 120 telephones or computers to be multiplexed and transmitted on one optical fiber thinner than a hair for 40 km. The equipment was configured and monitored with a locally connected computer. Eventually remote configuration and monitoring was added using a phone line. It all became more like a computer game and it became not only fun and easy to do, but as well, fun to teach and easy to learn. Except for some of the engineers from African countries who have never used a computer mouse before.
I really admired the developers. In the summertime they came to work in flip flops and bermuda shorts. I had a chance to do some work for them and they introduced me to the internet. They used the internet to communicate with the developers of the companies that made the components they so cleverly put together. But the internet was not so easy to use as you had to type in all steps in the form of commands. But that did not last too long. In a few years the computers became better faster and easier to use. It was no more typing in commands, but clicking on icons.
Wedding
We had a beautiful wedding in the woods.
It was very funny to have the chairs slowly sinking unevenly into the soft ground, and Susanne's aunt commenting that if we don't get on with the wedding, all of us will be sitting on the ground. Then right in the middle of the ceremony, a motor biker rode up the trail like he was on a horse and looked at us wondering what we were all doing in the middle of the woods. Susanne organized some street musicians from Yugoslavia to play at the wedding party. They were excellent, and played all of my mother's favorite songs. Unfortunately my mother could not attend as she broke her elbow and thumb. One of the musicians was Hungarian, and they played gypsy music all night. Ester made all the food and cake and decorations.
We moved to a bigger apartment nearby and I got to have my own little room. Susanne was at the market, and her friends helped me move. The apartment was next to a high school and was very quiet, with a big playing area. Susanne soon got pregnant and participated in an exercise course to prepare for the birth. She bought a huge rubber ball nearly a meter in diameter to do the exercises with.
In February 1988 together, with the huge rubber ball, we arrived at the hospital. The lady ahead of us sitting in the bathtub with labor pains was told to stay in a bit longer as Susanne was just in time. Within an hour or so, Matias was born. The delivery team asked me if I wanted to drink some beer to celebrate. I thought that they were inviting me to go out with them, so I foolishly declined. They came back with beers and with orange juice for me. Later on, we found out that Matias bent a shoulder bone during his exit. The next morning, I gathered up our 3 boys who were scattered among friends. We went to visit Susanne and Matias every day. The kids especially enjoyed the airport in Belp that we visited daily on the way. We had the house to ourselves for a whole week.
I asked Stefie, if he felt good about having a new baby brother. "Not so good" he sadly replied. Christopher's attitude was "I don't much mind". Florian was at first quiet confused. He liked some parts of it, but he definitely disliked other parts. Fortunately he soon ended up feeling very happy about it, and ended up being the "big brother" for Matias, just as he already was for the other two. Florian was the first to hear Matias cry and pick him up. Matias was a very special little boy who could smile the most beautiful smiles and frown the most angry frowns, and change from one to the other in a blink of an eye.
One day, he fell off the high changing table and broke a leg. He had to be suspended by his feet in a special bed for a few weeks. It was heartbreaking for me and Susanne to see him hanging like a bat, so for a while we called him "Mattely the BATtely". The winter was surprisingly mild, and we didn't have too much snow. Then spring arrived, and the bicycles got repaired. Christopher and Florian learned to ride their bicycles in a few weeks, and by the end of summer, Stefan was also riding by himself.
Mother's visit
My mother visited and Susanne overworked herself for the preparation and was very nervous. My mother arrived with all the gentleness, kindness, and elegance of a queen. She gracefully made herself at home in our home. When she unpacked the biggest suitcase, she had all of Adam's old toy guns, pistols, and cowboy, policeman, fireman, Superman, and Batman clothes. And chocolates and candies. My mother even invited the kids to watch cartoons on the special TV we rented just for her. This all greatly annoyed Susanne who was against having a TV, was very against violent playing and who considered sugar a drug. But the kids loved it. And so did I.
We took mother to see a lot of Switzerland, but most of the trips were difficult for Susanne. We took mother to a tourist attraction where they had an open air museum with many old houses from all part of Switzerland with staff dresses in their old costumes and demonstrated how they lived in the past and the difficulties they had without modern conveniences. My mother was not appreciative complaining that she was tired to see all that poverty as she lived in poverty herself.
So we took her to a luxurious restaurant. The waiters all came to the table together carrying very large covered plates that they uncovered all at the same time to reveal a very small but very decorated portion of food that looked more like an art work than something to eat. My mother was shocked when Susanne breastfed Matias at our table. We were shocked when my mother insisted that Susanne breastfeed in the bathroom. We of course refused her suggestion finding it repulsive. Of course my mother asked for tap water which made for more problems.
During 1989, I spent a lot of time reading up on the technology I was working with to slowly get to understand it. I surprised myself by giving 2 courses in German, and 1 in French especially when I can't speak either language. But with a handful of people helping me with the pronunciation, and with choosing the simplest sentence structures that still retain some meaning, I went thru it. I felt like an expert from Japan or India who talk in almost unintelligible English, but are never the less respected.
Christopher learned the Bern dialect within 3 months and Stefan and Florian learned their English dialect just as fast. I found German sadistically difficult. I didn't have any hope that I would ever master it.
Most weekends we drove somewhere and saw a lot of Switzerland, and even a bit of Germany, and Italy. We took a trip to see the "Neuschwanstein" Castle that the castle in Disney World was built after. Situated in the woods up on a high hill, the whole day I felt like I was in a dream.
Italy
In September we went to Italy for a week, and stayed in a church run hotel right on the Mediterranean Sea. It was in Pietra de Ligure run by the Valdese order who used it for disabled members of their church and rented out vacant rooms to tourists. The movement originated in the late 12 th century as the "Poor Men of Lyons", a band organized by Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant who gave away his property around 1173, preaching apostolic poverty as the way to God.
Waldensian teachings quickly came into conflict with the Catholic Church. By 1215, the Waldensians were declared heretical and subject to intense persecution. In 1487, Pope Innocent VII’s declared that “whoever kills a Waldensian will have pardon for his sins and the right to keep any property taken from his victim.” The group was nearly annihilated in the 17 th century and were confronted with organized and generalized discrimination in the centuries that followed.
We had a corner room with a door that opened right out on the beach. It was beautiful. Being able to get out of bed and walk right to the beach was very special. And so were the 3 hearty Italian meals every day. The water was warm enough to swim in and we played all day on the beach right out of our room. The room was furnished with a shower and a bathroom and 2 bunkbeds and one temporary bed. I took the top position with a good view of the entire room including part of the beach. One day I couldn't find Christopher anywhere. A storm was coming and the guests in the hotel were looking for Christopher out on the wild beach. An hour later and feeling 10 years older, I found him sleeping under a baby's crib that was near our room out in the hallway.
That was the last time that Susanne joined us, and we all agreed that it was a good idea to let me have all the kids for a few weeks, and to give Susanne a well-earned rest to get away from it all for a few weeks each year. We made this trip regularly for many years. We always went at the same time after the summer season in September when the local bambinos were bundled up in their winter cloths while my bambinos were in summer clothes. We always met the same families staying at the hotel. We always reserved the very same corner room with a patio going directly to the beach. Our many trips to Italy was for me like a timepiece to time the year. I was able to see the other children being different each year more than my own children who I saw every day. And each year the children would be able to swim farther and farther out.
We had a Toyota van where the kids could freely play on a soft mattress in the back with the back seat folded away. The drive took about 12 hours with plenty of stops. We would leave just as it was getting dark and we arrived on the coast just as it was getting light. On our return, we did the very same so I could drive in the night with hardly any traffic while the kids were quietly sleeping in the back.
We always looked forward to the bell that was rung to announce that food was ready. We always sat at the same table. And the kids liked the Italian dishes, except the baked apples which we thought were rotten ones. We could watch TV in the evenings and one evening the lady sitting behind us and Mathew on my shoulder must have made eye contact with her causing her to sigh “Que bello” for the rest of the evening.
There was an very old town on the other side of the railway lines that ran along the beach. There was a pathway tunnel going under the railway lines right near our hotel. We regularly walked to the village for ice-cream and toys. The prices were much cheaper than in Switzerland, but the money we were buying candy with were in 10,000 denominations. The children really enjoyed getting their pocket money with the Italian money. There were many interesting looking sellers from Africa walking the beach covered from head to toe in their wares often wearing a high stack of hats balanced on their heads. Jewelry, watches, electronic gadgets, socks and beach toys made them like a walking Kiosk.
Mother
My Mother died at the end of the year. The news left me mentally and physically numb. I couldn't think, and I couldn't act. I felt paralyzed. Susanne immediately took over and decided that I go back with Christopher to Canada for the funeral. Within a few hours she had 2 tickets to Toronto for the following day. She drove us to the airport and put us on the plane. I felt lucky to find myself in such loving and capable hands. We arrived in Boston in a blinding snowstorm. All flights to Toronto were canceled. The airline found us a hotel, and we spent New Years Eve at a luxurious Sheraton Hotel. Christopher loved being suddenly surrounded in luxury and having room service in the middle of the night. I bought him a bugs bunny doll that he ended to keep even when he outgrow having such toys.
Mother was a very special person as most that knew her would testify. She had many sides, and she showed different sides to different people. At the funeral, I had the privilege to meet some of the people who knew her. She was soft and hard, weak and strong, all at the same time. She had high principles, and lived by them. She helped others more than she helped herself.
Hungary
In the summer of 1990, we went to Hungary for a vacation. We met Maria Néni, an elderly lady who lived out in the country and gave private German lessons. All houses had dogs and we saw the funniest group of dogs you could imagine. They ranged from very small to very big. They regularly made their round of the town always at the same time and taking the same route like a real herd going from shop to shop as if they were shopping. In Szombathely We walked around my old neighborhood and found the apartment block I used to live in. It was all renovated and I couldn't find anybody that remembered us living there. All I had were faded 35 year old images in my head. After a little while I was able to speak Hungarian like a stuttering 7 year old boy. Words automatically flowed out of me that I had long forgotten. We found a church that my father designed, and the minister kindly showed us around.
In Nagykanizsa we found another church that my father designed. The minister found father's birth certificate, and I started to dig at my roots. I went to the cemetery to look for my grandfather's grave. I asked one of the workers cleaning the cemetery to help me find it. I saw a grave that looked very old and was covered by wild flowers. Then I saw the Vecsey name on the grave stone. The lady rushed to the grave ahead of me and started pulling out the wild flowers growing on the abandoned grave. She was ashamed and apologized that the grave was left as abandoned as it was.
I went to a book store to try to find some books about my family. I met Katrina, who was working at the store. The timing was just right. She informed me that she was working on plans to give back the old names to public places that were taken away and changed when the Russians took over the country in 1945. One was the school originally named after my grandfather who was a popular and beloved mayor of Nagykanizsa. He was related to one of the 13 martyrs of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution, Count Vecsey Karoly. Katrina was working in the ministry of culture. She was to organize the renaming of the school and as I was a great nephew of the Count, she asked me if could participate in the renaming ceremony to be held in a few months.
I returned for the renaming ceremony by train and Katrina, the lady who initiated the ceremony and who invited me treated me like I was a prince. She took me everywhere and introduced me to everyone. I had to present a flag and say a few words. I ended up on local TV. The ceremony started on Saturday at the grave of Zsigmond, my grandfather. The director of the school said a few words about Zsigmond’s life and achievements. About 10 students lay flowers on his grave. Then we returned to the school a few blocks away and I, Zsigmond's grandson, had to hand over the Hungarian flag to one of the schoolgirls and say a few words. I told them how sorry I was to have forgotten Hungarian. And in my broken Hungarian I tried to tell them how happy I was to join this celebration of freedom. I ended by thanking them for showing and leading the way to freedom for the other countries in Europe.
I stayed a week and met a lot of people and made a lot of friends. Katrina did not let me in her apartment, insisting that we meet at the front door. The night before I had to go back home, she arraigned a friends apartment where we spent one night together. Her friend was very much over-weight and she stayed with us until Katrina asked her to leave to leave us alone.
Ohio and Canada
In the summer of 1991, our family scattered in all directions. Christopher, Mathew, and I went to Canada for 5 weeks. Stefan went with his Uncle Martin to his mountain cabin to look for crystals. Florian went to a circus camp, and Susanne went to Hungary to get her teeth fixed. We decided to get the cheapest fare over to Canada and got to fly in what must have been the oldest Jumbo with things broken and the floor flooded with puddles over the soaked carpet.
I was afraid that Mathew, about 3 years old, would be very unhappy being away from Susanne for so long. We asked him if he wanted to go to Canada or stay with Susanne and he chose to come with us. After the 30 hours of traveling when we finally arrived, the poor guy thought that the trip to Canada was over and that we have returned to Switzerland. Needless to say, he was greatly disappointed and hurt when he realized that the vacation had only just started. He called Ellie "asshole" and refused to have anything to do with her. Ellie loved him from the first moment, and within a week, they became very good friends. Now he regularly mentions Ellie with fondness and often asks when we will go back to Canada, emphasizing "but not for sonalong time, eh daddy!!" Mathew also made very good friends with David and Tara who were so very especially nice to him. Christopher stuck with his buddy Adam.
Ellie was the nurse who took care of a lady we called “exactly” because she said that word all the time. He appreciated how well Ellie treated his wife and they became very close friends. Heinz fell in love with Ellie and Ellie fell in love with him. He was a very special artist who painted very large murals on the windowless sides of shopping malls and schools. He was born in Germany and lied about his age to get admitted to the army. He joined the notorious SS organization in Nazi Germany. He was wounded very early in the war and ended up sitting out the war and surviving both his wounds and the war. He found himself in Canada and he became an artist, painting murals on sides of schools and shopping centers around Welland where he lived. His murals portray the history of the area in a very interesting way. He paints scenes with prominent colors that gradually change into other scenes in other colors.
The Mennonite and Amish community in Ohio engaged him to paint a round panoramic mural for their new tourist center. It became the largest panorama in the world. It was 100 meters long and 3 meters high circular painting of Mennonite and Amish history. The mural is the main attraction in the area where tourists are bused in to look and experience the Amish. It took him 10 years to paint it and he knew many of the locals. He went to the center and sold autographed prints of his works. He had a gallery on the side where he sold his original paintings. The mural depicted the entire history of the church, from the creation to the present. The last scene is of himself painting the mural. His style is very special and unique with scenes blending together and mostly only distinguishable by the color.
In the 1st week, Heinz invited us for a week to an Amish community in Ohio where he was finishing his panoramic mural. The 100m long mural described the entire Amish history by inter-winding forms and colors. It is like watching a movie. He introduced us to some friends who gave us a buggy ride. They let me help around the farm for a day. The 2nd week we stayed at Ellie's house in Welland and played baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, and went fishing and swimming. Adam was very affectionate with Mathew, constantly hugging and kissing him and telling him how cute he was.
The 3rd week, Ellie lent us her car and Adam, Mathew, Christopher and me went to Killaloe to visit some of my friends that I remember so fondly. My brakes totally failed while I was driving on the highway. I was lucky to be able to coast safely to an exit and had to get towed to a garage for repairs.
We visited the house that Christopher and I lived in. When I went to the Bank to close my account, the workers recognized me and thought that Mathew whom I carried in my arms was Christopher. The last time they saw Christopher, he was Mathew's age.
Adam was not only overly affectionate, something he inherited and learned from my mother, but he was also extremely sensitive to the state of our accommodations. . If the carpets had any stains, or if the bathrooms were not shiny clean, he would refuse to stay there. I promised "gentleman" Adam that we would stay in a "gentleman" hotel at least once on our trip. Luckily they had a special weekend rate at the world famous 5 star Hotel Chateau Laurier in Ottawa and we got to stay 2 nights. There I saw the "gentleman" in Christopher for the first time. Christopher insisted that we change to clean clothes before we enter the hotel!!. And whenever Christopher and Adam were waiting in the hallways, both leaned against the wall with their elbows, hand on hips and legs crossed just like Fred Astaire and the gentlemen in those old movies.
On our way back to Welland, we met David and his family in Toronto to see a baseball game in the Toronto Sky dome with 50,000 other people. It had the world's largest TV screen. Mathew thought that we met David in the crowd by chance. When we entered the huge stadium, the Toronto Blue Jays were behind but by the time we reached David who had our seats reserved, the Toronto Blue Jays were leading. Mathew thought that we just happened to bump into David by chance.
For our last evening, David, Tara, Adam and the 3 of us went to Niagara Falls for the evening. We rented some paddle boats and chased each other around till they closed. Adam started crying whenever I let the other boats have the lead. Then we walked a couple of kilometers along the Falls and visited the tourist traps well into the early morning. It was a holiday I shall never forget.
We returned just in time to see Florian in his last performance on the last day of the circus camp. He had to jump from about 4 meters tied to a harness rope that broke his fall. It was very impressive. Then suddenly, it was back to work, and for the children, back to school. And for Stefan, it was going to school for the very first time.
Lyme disease
In late summer of 1991, a few days after a 30 km bicycle trip I made with the kids, Mathew noticed I had a "boo-boo" on the back of my leg. It was a 10cm round red/purple rash that was slightly raised. It felt like an insect bite. In a week it disappeared and my hip nerves started to ache. I took more and more painkillers every day, all kinds of homeopathy pills, and even acupuncture. In two weeks, the pain suddenly disappeared. The kids just came back from a week at camp, and we decided to go for our annual trip to Italy before they closed our hotel for the season.
Then the pain started again. The warm seawater did some good. The three big boys were out swimming every day. We had our regular room, and all the regular guests that we knew by then were there. We had a great time. I was just worrying about how I was going to drive home with the pain that was getting worst daily. When we arrived back home, the pain was unbearable. The painkillers didn't work anymore. And neither did I.
The pain in my upper legs was at times so severe that only by moving and stretching them could I get relief. And I found I could not sleep because I needed to move and stretch constantly. The pain became so unbearable that I would drive to the emergency in the middle of the night to be injected with pain killers. I kept repeating in vain my story of the plate size red spot that I had for a week a few weeks after taking a biking trip along the local river. Later I found out that they diagnosed my pain as psychosomatic.
I saw an acupuncturist and he sent me to the neurological clinic for a spinal fluid examinations confirming Lyme disease. I was confined in the hospital for a month and had to stay home for 3 months. During my month long stay at the hospital, I visited the hospital library and found alerts to the high-risk areas in Europe concerning this tick carrying decease. I was surprised that the local river around Bern was marked red on the top of the list of danger areas for the Lyme bacteria which is very small and can hide and hibernate making it difficult to detect. The tell-tale symptom of the raised red round spot that I had was described as clear indication of being infected by the Lyme bacteria. After a week of concentrated antibiotic infusion, and an electric heating pad, the pain subsided. I was able to sleep again. Then came the second nightmare.
Day by day I was gradually losing the strength in my two legs. I didn't know for how long it would continue. Eventually I couldn't even lift my legs and could hardly walk. I had to drag myself up the stairs. And just as it was reaching a point where I couldn't climb the stairs any more, the pain stopped. The strength slowly returned and in less than a year the entire thing was like a horrible nightmare.
New Home
Susanne found a dream home. A beautiful 100-year-old small farmer house ideally located, and with a hard to beat price that gave us a chance to go for it. I was petrified. I thought of leaky roofs, blocked pipes, and the prospects of Susanne forced to work full time in a job she didn't like. I also dreamed of swinging in my hammock under our apple trees with a cat in my lap, chickens running around, and watching the kids build their tree house. I was totally confused, and felt myself lost and blindly drifting out of control down the unknown rapids that Susanne was carving out for us. Susanne worked day and night racing against time to get the down payment which we did not have, as we did not have any savings yet. Susanne wrote all her friends and my sister Ellie that she hoped could help lend us the money for the down payment. The plea was so honest and convincing, that the necessary amount was collected in a few days. Finally the company I worked for agreed to give us the mortgage.
In the spring of 1992, we went to Hungary. Susanne, Florian and Stefan got their teeth fixed. Susanne's friend Maria gave us an empty house next door to use. It was still cold, and we had a nice fire blazing every night. We all had a great time getting to know all the neighbor dogs a bit better We all agreed that the dogs had a more interesting, lively character and life than most of the villagers. Our kids had a great time. They were able to dig holes, gather clay and play with the dogs and even learn a bit of Hungarian.
Then it was back to work. Ascom, the company I work for, had a big re-organization, and the new work I am doing was very enjoyable. I was sent to Bergen, Norway to give a week long course to a group of Libyans. Susanne arranged to come along. Stefan went with his uncle Martin to his alpine hut. Florian and Mathew stayed with Grossy. Christopher spent the week with his classmate Raphael, his aunt Ester, and his godmother, Irene. Susanne and I had what was like a second honeymoon.
Visitors
Ellie and Adam came to visit us. Heinz, Ellie's friend, who we met in Ohio a year ago joined in. We took them to see the famous Swiss "Materhorn". Poor Ellie was caught in a 4 way tug and squeeze with Heinz, Susanne and me all pulling her in different directions, and Adam squeezing on for dear life. Heinz wanted Ellie to go to Germany. I wanted her to go to Hungary and help me explore some of my roots. Susanne wanted her to stay in beautiful Switzerland. Poor Adam desperately hung on for fear of losing her to all of us. In the end, thanks to Ellie's generous soul, we all got what we wanted.
The first week we drove to Germany. We climbed the 160m church steeple in Ulm, the highest in the world. There was no speed limit on the highway. The kids especially liked racing 240 km/hr in Heinz's BMW. The second week, we drove in a blinding hailstorm to Hungary. We stayed the week in a funny hotel, where one man did all the work of doorman, receptionist, chamber maid, cook, waiter, gardener, janitor, lifeguard, telephone operator, and everything else. It was Adam who finally recognized that the entire staff was just the same man wearing different hats.
We were able to find our cousin Andreas and her husband Zoltan whom we didn't know existed. They spent every day with us and showed us roots we didn't even know we had. Then by chance we met my friend Katrina who invited me to the school renaming ceremony 2 years before. We all had dinner together and talked about the past.
In 1993 we were able to move into our new 100 year old house. We gradually moved during a period of one month making frequent visits loading the car up each time. Our house was located in a beautiful valley ideal for bicycling.. I somehow managed to move my entire crowded room into my new room half its size. It looked and felt like a camper and I was very happy and comfortable in it. And before we knew it, we were all settled in. Susanne immediately started a garden to my delight, and I immediately started to dig a pond to her utter dismay. As I was digging out the pond, I found a a buried frog that came to life. I filled the plastic lined hole with water plants I got from the lake nearby. I added some tadpoles and when the dragon flies appeared, I sat back and watched the pond come alive. I felt like a god.
We were all very happy with our new house except for Mathew who was very scared of the wind. I didn't blame him. The wind rolled down from the nearby glaciers in unexpected avalanches that shook and rattled the whole house. Susanne insisted on having our cats stay outdoor, and cute little mice suddenly moved in with us.
For our summer holiday, Susanne packed us and sent us off to Hungary. After having driven all night, the Hungarian border men refused to let us in because Florian and Stefan didn't have their Swiss passports. Somewhat groggy, we returned to Wien. Feeling low and down, the kids decided to play gentlemen and have a 5 star hotel vacation for a change, even if it meant having a shorter one. They changed into clean clothes and we went around the luxury hotels comparing prices and quality. They finally settled for a 4 star hotel right above a McDonald. We had a great time. We went to the museums, rode the subways, and stayed up till past midnight. We had our breakfast served in our room. The boys insisted on cleaning the room first so that "we won't feel ashamed". It was a real joy to be with them.
Just before our money ran out, we went camping for 3 days. We stayed at a 5 star camping place with campers surrounded by miniature plastic gardens. For luck there was a place for us right next to the beach. We took our two rubber boats along and had a great time except when the wind carried Florian and Christopher way out, and they had to paddle all the way back against a strong wind. It started raining just as we ran out of money, so we drove home. We arrived a few days earlier than Susanne expected us and surprised her and the guests she had over. We ended up being surprised ourselves as she arranged for us a few more nights of camping a few km away from our house.
During 1994, we had many visitors who came to see our new house for the first time. Many came unannounced and there were many times when we had people dropping in from all over. Eddie Boss an 80 year old friend of the family showed up for a few days to wish us a happy New Year. He drove up with his moped all dressed up in his 3 piece green suit. With his long white beard, he reminded me of Santa Clause. He came with his radiating joyous spirit and brought us laughter, games, singing and dancing. He left at midnight during a snow storm by running along his moped, and jumping on it when the motor kicked in.
One morning early in the New Year, we woke up to find hundreds of sheep grazing in the field behind our house. They were passing thru and stayed only a few hours. One of the sheep gave birth and we had the honor of using our fenced in garden as a shelter for her and her two newborn babies. A black crow got injured in all that confusion, giving the opportunity for the boys to nurse it and save it from our cat Rossini. And suddenly, just as fast as the sheep appeared, they disappeared, and I suddenly found myself back at work.
Hungary
I was sent to Hungary in mid February for a week to give a training course and help with the installation of equipment that we sold there. The Hungarian workers were especially very nice to me. Feelings of my Hungarian roots surface once more, allowing me to be more open and honest with them than I am normally with other customers. This trusting atmosphere made the trip very successful and rewarding.
One evening, I made a surprised visit to our friends Erszy and Tibor in Budapest. When I arrived, I found myself in the middle of a special party. A reunion of friends from an amateur street theater group that they belonged to. It was the first time they were all together since the group broke up 10 years ago. Most of them had not seen each other since then. One of the members died, and they all met at his funeral. After the funeral, they decided to go to Erzsy's house for a while. They reminisced about their rich experience together when they were publicly protesting the political injustices. Making satirical street theater was the only way possible at that time to protest. One by one they shared highlights in memory and honor of their lost friend. It was like observing a review of the best of their cabarets. It was an unforgettable mixture of sadness and laughter that will stay with me forever. They all sadly agreed laughing that the next time they meet will be probably at the next funeral and that they will need a bigger table because most will be fatter by then.
Visitors
Susanne attracted people in need of help like a magnet. Each year people came to her from far and wide. This year, she crossed paths with an old polish limping lady who hitchhiked from Poland to attend the chess championships held in Biel. She registered with the hopes of winning some prize and hopefully going back with a bit more than what she came with. Susanne offered to let the lady chose from the piles of cloths that she couldn't easily sell, but wanted to get rid of. The lady saw her gold mine immediately and took the whole pile. Susanne packed it up for her. Eventually it just got too much for the lady to carry back and Susanne offered to store it for her till the next time she returns. One night well past midnight the lady came knocking on our door in the pitch dark. She had only our address, but no map. To find us she just asked people along the way. This way she got closer and closer. Unfortunately, she got lost for a while along the way, and that is why she was a bit late. Such is the power of Susanne's magnetism. Then just as fast as the polish lady limped away, the next one came.
Otillia, a 33-year-old single lady wanted nothing better than to be our nanny. That is exactly what Susanne needed as she was working on her second-hand markets so much. And before we knew it, she was our nanny. Mathew called her Totillia, and the name fit and stuck. Everybody, except me, couldn't stand her and her cooking after the first week. She was constantly cooking and cleaning and washing laundry, sometimes right thru the night. To the delight and relief of the kids it soon got too expensive so unfortunately it only lasted 1 week.
Susanne insisted that we as a family must all be together in everything. She also believed that the parents have to have the same opinions, otherwise the children would be confused, she argued. On the other hand, I believed and argued that differences within the family are not only beneficial, but as well unavoidable. So we argued till we got too loud and agreed to discuss things later.
I remembered the times I would come home from work to find Susanne just ready to drive off leaving the house in a mess, with table covered by the spills from the plates, and the floor covered by toys and spills from the table, and the ceilings covered by flies. When I cleared the table and put all the dirty dished in a big pail and swept the floor sweeping everything under the beds so that I could walk around without stepping on toys, she complained that I should just leave the mess alone as what I did made more work for her.
The children
One day, I offered to take Stefie (5) for a bike ride, and before putting him in the back seat, I ask him where he would like to go.
"Up there" he answered, pointing to the back seat.
********
Christopher (6): "Mommy, how many cookies can I have???"
Susanne: Holding up 2 fingers on each hand.. "If you can count how many fingers I have.. you can have as many cookies"
Christopher: "Ten!?!" he answered hopefully without losing any time.
********
Florian (6): "Stefie, can I have the toy now??"
Stefan (5): "Not yet... you have to wait a little."
Florian: "OK! I'll count to 5... and then can I have it??"
Stefan: (uncertain at first) "OK." he finally agreed. Then grabbing Florian's hand, he insisted: "(count) With this hand." Then, after a thoughtful moment, grabbing Florian's other hand, he quickly added: "And then with this one."
********
Andrew: Touching Stefie's ice cold feet. "Stefie, you need to put on some socks."
Stefan. Touching my fingers with his hot little hands. "Daddy, you need to put on some gloves."
********
Stefan: "Daddy, Florian don't let Christopher climb into the big box."
Florian: "That's only for broken toys."
Christopher: "But I was pretending to be a broken toy Daddiiii"
At the picnic, Susanne is bothered by the smoke from the fire blowing right in her face.
Stefan: "Just turn the fire around Muetti.."
********
Matias (1): "Ayahaajjjaajahhay......."
Andrew: "Listen... Matias is saying 'Oh.. I'm so happy..'"
A while later...
Matias: "WAHHH!!!..WWAAAAAHHHGGGHH HHH!!!.."
Andrew: "Which one of you know what Matias is saying now?"
Stefan: "the baby is saying
"WAHHH!!!..WWAAAAAHHHGGGHH HHH!!!.."
After a swim with his Godfather Urs, who regularly takes him swimming, Stefan was describing how he slid down this huge water slide with Urs.
Susanne: "Did you hold on to Urs real tight??"
Stefan: "Oh no..." and then added proudly "I went first.. and he held onto me...."
In 1989 Christopher and Florian started to lose their baby teeth, while Matias was starting to get all of his. Christopher and Florian started school, and Stefan started kindergarten. Matias started to talk in three languages-, Swiss-German, English, and his very own. He calls Florian "Waa-Waa", and up until a month ago, he called me "Ills", a derivation of "ears", the name Christopher called me. And whenever Matias called me that, he would twist his tongue to the side, and stick it out a bit, and hold it in that position with his beautiful white teeth. It always made my heart skip a few beats.
Now he calls me "Daddy" and he calls Susanne "Mommy". He sings late into the night, and starts to sing again early in the morning. He is stuck to Susanne like a Velcro, and you can well imagine how noisy he gets nearly every separation from her. He is a beauty. My mother calls him "Butter-ball". I am sure she has in mind the kind you find on ice in those fancy restaurants. They look temptingly soft, and yet are surprisingly hard. But then they soften, and melt. Matias can be cold and hard one minute, and then melt your heart the next. Our other 3 children are beauties as well.
Florian (7): "Daddy.... can you come here please...."
Andrew: (from the bathroom) "I'll be out in a minute"
A few minutes later…
Florian: "Daddy.... can you come here please...."
Andrew: (still in the bathroom) "I'll be out in half a minute"
Florian: "Daddy.. a half-minute is too a long time.. eh?.."
********
Stefan (6): (looking at a bright half moon.) "Look Daddy.. I see half a full moon!.."
********
Andrew: "Christopher, before I buy you a watch, you have to know to count a little bit... Here, try this... It is now 9 o'clock., what time will it be in 2 hours?"
Christopher (7): (after a long time thinking..) "Daddy, I need a watch to figure that out!..."
Christopher looks disgustingly down at his bowl of soup in front of him carefully picking out the pieces..
Susanne: "Don't you like the soup Chris?"
Christopher: "Yes, I do... it's only all that sauce I don't like!"
Stefan: "This soup is the best ..it is sooo good"
Susanne: "Can I taste it?"
Stefan: "Ja.. but take a deep spoonful because all the vegetables are on the bottom, and I like the sauce the best"
********
Andrew: "Let's do a little counting Chris... what is 50 and 20"
Chris (8): after a long time "That's too difficult!"
Andrew: "Use your fingers"
Chris: "But Daddy... I don't have so many hands"
********
Matias (3): asking me to crack open a walnut for him... "Daddy- can you undress it please?"
One day when I was with the children in town, I ran out of money.
Andrew: "I'm sorry kids, I have no money left."
Stefan (7): "Daddy.. on money day, you don't have to give me any money."
********
Susanne: "One hour has 60 minutes... they should have made the hour with 100 minutes, that would make it much easier."
Stefan: "I like it better with 60 minutes, it goes much faster that way"
Driving by an airport, we saw the red and white windsocks. I explained to the children that they are used to show the pilots which way and how fast the wind is blowing. Later we saw a few more.
Andrew: "Which way is the wind blowing now?”
Florian (8): "It is blowing from the mountains to the lake"
I congratulated him, and a while later we saw a few more hanging straight down in the calm.
Chris: "Daddy.. look, the wind is blowing from the sky straight down to the ground!"
********
Chris: "Daddy, can I sleep with you?"
Andrew: "Chris, I am sleeping with Matias, and there is not enough room on these small hotel beds for the 3 of us"
Chris: "But Daddyyy.. I be very thin..."
********
Andrew: "Christopher-- can't you hear good?? why do I have to ask you so many times the same thing.."
Chris goes out of the room as if he didn't hear a thing. I sit down and a coin falls out of my pocket
Chris: running back to the room... "Who dropped a money?"
********
Florian: "Daddy, can you ask us number questions again?"
Andrew: "OK.. if I have 1 Frank and I want to split it equally between you, Stefan, Christopher, and Mataly... how much do you each get?"
Florian: after a long while.. "Daddy, I think it's better if you have 4 Franks."
Mathew opens the front door to the apartment block and starts to go up the stairs. Half way up, he stops, turns around, goes back down, and wipes his feet on the door mat.
********
Mathew picking shells for Susanne on the beach in Italy. "For Mommy" he tells me. And after a while, seeing that I'm not collecting shells for Susanne "you too Daddy!!!" he commands.
********
Matias jumping on Susanne's knees while she is lying in bed with a sore back.
Andrew: "Matias, don't jump on Susanne ... her back hurts"
Matias: "I'm not jumping on her back!"
********
Susanne: carrying Mathew on her shoulders "Matu.. I can't no more .. my back is too sore"
Mathew: "Mammaly?? does your stomach hurt?"
Susanne: "No"
Mathew: "Then carry me on your stomach"
********
Matias: showing me fresh cut marks on the table...? "Stefie made that"
Andrew: in disbelief "JESUS!!!"
Matias: Correcting me "It was Stefie ......NOT Jesus"
********
Matias slaps me............. I slap him back.............
He pulls my hair............ I pull his..................
He pinches me............... I pinch him back............
........He thinks a while, takes my hand in his and slaps me with my own hand.
In 1991 Stefan was 7 and a half and played the role of the big brother to Mathew who was almost 4 years younger. The two older ones, Florian and Christopher were already almost 9 and were starting to form their own ideas of what is right and wrong and make various decisions on their own. They decided to trade their hand-held computer games for a Commodore 64 personal computer with 50 or more games. They complained more and more if they don't like the food and even often made their own. They some times got all dressed up and prepared a surprise party diner for all of us with napkins, party decorations, candles, and the special party glasses with straws. A few times, they even cleaned the kitchen and dining room as a surprise.
They had ideas of what they wanted to do, and they did them. They made all by themselves a little enclosed camping place in the empty lot next door. The 3 older even went down town once all on their own. They like to draw and often dress up as Super Heroes. Susanne provided all the costumes they needed. Mathew sometimes sits by himself for hours at a time looking thru books, or playing with a few play mobile figures. Then sometimes they get into the LEGOs mood and build complicated machinery and space ships. They like to go swimming and the 3 older ones could already dive off the high diving board. They liked to go to McDonald's on the weekend and I enjoyed taking them.
Christopher, or Chrissy as we call him, is the clown of the family. He gets things going and then hops on for the ride. He likes money very much and does almost anything for the right amount. And as fast as he gets it, he spends it. One day he used a $20 gift to buy $20 worth of turtle cards explaining that the chances of getting the whole set is faster that way. He is always giggling and laughing and always on the move.
Stefan, or “Stefie Beffi“ or "Buffalo Bill" as we sometimes call him, is like a buffalo. Calm and tranquil when left alone, and earthshaking when disturbed. He is very sensitive and caring. He acted as Sheriff always pointing out anything he found that he thought needed pointing out. Like things he thought his brothers should not be doing.
Mathew is a "cutie-pie" because he looks so cute. For a while he didn't like me kissing him, so I stopped. Then he became a kisser himself and came over often just to give me a kiss.
Florian is the big brother to them all. He is the strongest and the quickest and he and Chrissy made a great pair, just like Batman and Joker.
Florian’s universal law of boo boos.....after getting a big scratch on his legs and showing them to me:
Florian: "You know daddy, I found out today that you either get a lot of little boo boos every week, or one big one every couple of weeks. Just look, last week I didn't have any boo boos and today look what happened!"
Andrew: "Florian, that`s a very clever observation."
Florian (9): proudly... "Yes, that did happen to me already maybe 2 times!".
********
Susanne: "Matu... why did you pee in your pants?"
Mathew (4): "I didn't pee in my pants, I peed in my underpants!"
Heinz asked Ellie how she slept. Ellie answered that she slept really well.
Mathew: turning to me and muttering half under his breath.. "the 'asshole' slept well."
********
Mathew: "Daddy.. can I or can I not!"
Andrew: "You cannot!" ...........a while later..
Mathew: "Daddy.. can I or can I not!"
Andrew: "You cannot!".......... a while later after some thinking....
Mathew: "Daddy.. can I or can I"
The kids wanted to stay up late, and I told them they could as long as they don't make any noise. We all agreed that they would all have to go to bed if it got too noisy. A while later, it got a bit too noisy, so I sent them all off to bed.
Chris (9): "Please give us one more chance?"
Andrew: "OK, I'll give you all one more chance"
Mathew: "Daddy, can I have please 3 more chance?"
********
Stefan sitting at the table and eating with his winter jacket on....
Susanne: "Stefan, please hang up your jacket"....................a while later..
Susanne: "Stefan, I said hang up your jacket!"
Stefan: "I already hanged it up... on me!"
Stefan shows me a picture he painted- planes and bombs and fire all over- all colored blue.
Andrew: "Stefan, why is the fire you painted all blue?"
Stefan: "Because I painted with this" he answers holding up a blue crayon.
In 1992 Mathew was almost 5, and was like an alley cat. He could purr contentedly one minute, and play a wild terrorizing tiger the next. Once in Italy he pretended to faint on me in the middle of the street. The onlookers wanted to call the ambulance until I tickled him. Stefan was 9 and played the honest mediator. He reminded all of us whenever we did something wrong. Florian, almost 10, was the leader and he and the others knew it. He especially liked Michel Jackson, bought one of his cassettes and played it continuously. He was very consequent in what he did and got frustrated at being treated like only a 10 year old. Christopher 10 normally thought up of all the ideas that usually got the rest into trouble. He got them revved up and going full speed, and then innocently stepped behind and followed. Their favorite pastimes continued to be dressing up as various super heroes, drawing and coloring, and building with LEGOs.
Telling Mathew what to do if we lose each other in the city...
Andrew: "If we lose each other, you have to stay where you are and do not go to look for me. I will look for you".
A while later, to see if Mathew understood. I ask him. "What to we do if we loose each other Mathew?"
Mathew: After thinking a while nd looking half surprised and half worried. "Daddy...you too don't know??????”
********
Matias (5): "Eating is like talking."
Discussing the meaning of being a gentleman. ... At first Christopher felt that the more money one has, the more of a gentleman one is. He added that a gentleman has to be a little bit old and also has to be well dressed.
We ended up all agreeing in the end that it was not money or age or clothes that makes a gentleman, but a gentle character. When I asked Christopher what does a "gentle character" mean, he offered "not rough and loud".
Mathew suddenly brightened up and proudly exclaimed. "Hey daddy, I am a gentleman.. ( and after some thought) . .when I'm in bed".
********
Stefan (9): "Daddy can I have an ice-cream"?
Andrew: "Ya you can have".
Florian (10): "Daddy can I have an ice-cream?"
Andrew: "Ya you can have".
Matias (5): "Daddy can I an ice-cream have"?Andrew: "Ya you can all have"!
Matias: (to the others) "Hey, I can eat all the ice- cream. .Daddy did say I can all have."
Mathew, walking on a clear night looking up and seeing the trees move by against a still starry sky
Matias: "Look, the stars are following us".
Andrew: "Why is that"? I ask.
Matias: "Because they don't want to be alone"... (he contemplates and after some thought) "But daddy, they are with God then God is following us".
********
The kids, insulting each other with words...
"You are like a ball with corners"
"You are like a boxer with no arms"
"You are like a car with no wheels"
"You are like a lamp with no light bulb"
In Italy, at the restaurant, Mathew spits something he doesn't like back into his plate....
Christopher (10): "Matu.., this is a 3 star hotel!...I wouldn't do that in a 3 star hotel!!..."
Andrew: "I wouldn't do it in a 1 star hotel"!
Stefan: "I wouldn't do it in a no star hotel"
Florian: "I wouldn't do it even at home"
Stefan: ... (his honesty shining thru) ... "maybe I would do it at home..."
On the beach ...
Stefan: "Look. .a crab"!
Florian: "Lets get something to catch it and put it in"
Andrew: "Oh, ... the poor little thing ..... .he will miss his daddy..."
Stefan: "But daddy. . .he's a BIG one".
Andrew: "Oh... the poor daddy.. .he will miss his little kids. ."
Stefan: "Then lets take the whole family".
Looking at the glowing moon shortly after sunset.
Stefan (9): "Look daddy its not yet night. .and the moon is already a light."
Our children were the nicest kids one can imagine. . most of the time. They fought and cried a lot but they also played and laughed a lot. They were very independent and took good care of each other, especially taking care of Mathew who sometimes had a difficult time keeping up. They were all very talented and creative. Once Susanne invited a bunch of ladies to the house. The children quietly disappeared. Just as we were all thinking how nice that the children could play by themselves, all four appeared painted with lipstick and dressed in ladies clothes; high heels, filled brassieres, and all. They liked to have a good time and knew how to have it. They took me along and left me with many magic moments.
Matias (6): .... looking at a magazine photo of a huge crowd of neo-nazi punks all saluting Hitler style . "Look Daddy! They're waving Michel Jackson good-bye"
********
Matias: "Daddy, we are HOMOSAPIENS"
Andrew: "Where did you learn such a big word?".
Matias: "I too not know Daddy. Daddy, we are HOMOERECTUS.... are Affen too Mensch ????
********
Chris (11): ... getting some black leather shoes. . . .and Mathew looking a bit jealous... "Matu.. be happy, when you grow some more, you are going to get my Michel Jackson shoes. . .and when you become a man you can give them to your children."
********
Andrew: .... doing the bills with Mathew watching me "Matu..... your climbing all over those bills on the bed makes me a bit nervous"
Matias: "Daddy. . it makes me too nervous. . .but a lot".
********
Matias: "Daddy.. .my feet fell asleep... if my head would fall asleep, Mommy would come and wake me up tomorrow morning. .Eh?."
********
Andrew: "Did everybody brush their teeth"?Matias: "Oh. .Oh. .I forgot. .thanks for that you say me Daddy".
Andrew: ... impressed... "Good for you Matu ..."
Matias: .breaking in... "Good for YOU Daddy... I did not know it."
By 1994 Christopher was 12 and a natural clown. His best cabarets were when he was not consciously putting on a show. He was very clever and dreamy. One day he threw a plastic toy out in the middle of the pond and I could not get it out. So I told him that he had to find a way to get it out himself. He found a long length of wire in the shed that he finally cut and straightened to make just the right hook bent in just the right way to easily hook the toy out. But before he found the wire cutter, the poor guy got strangled in all the wire that was suddenly sticking out all over him. Every time he turned, the wires would knock down something. By the time he freed himself, the wire had done all the damage it could. The shed was a total mess. It all reminded me of Charlie Chaplin.
Florian (12) was very smart and was good in everything. Mathew looked up to him like a super hero. Stefan, soon 11, took after his toddler nickname "buffalo bill", the sheriff in our family. He knew all the rules and what was right and what was not allowed. They greatly enjoyed all the freedom that the house offered them. Laying back and observing our children was my favorite entertainment. The children built a tree house on one of our apple trees.
During our regular brushing the teeth and going to bed ritual: Florian (12) and Stefan(11) are playing. Florian swings a sponge ball on a string and Stefan jumps around to avoid it, just like in the movies. Christopher practicing his high jumps pretends to be Michael Jordan from the Dream Team. Mathew (7) is somehow trying to play both games at the same time.
Andrew: "How do you think Susanne would feel if she came home right now and found you playing like this past 9 O'clock".
Stefan: after a while... "She would be mad"
Florian: after even longer. "She would be sad"
Stefan: "She would explode"
Christopher (12): ... somewhat sadly.. "Oh... she would just go away for a while".
Finally we all agree that it is a good idea to go right to bed. Teeth brushed and pajamas on, Christopher starts his high jumps again.
Christopher: "Andrew. . is this how David did it when we saw him playing once by Ellie's house?"
Andrew: "We agreed to go to bed really fast. Playing basketball is not the way to go to bed really fast"
Christopher: "But Andrew, just listen to me. You need action to go to bed real fast".. he takes a running high jump and lands on his back right in his bed. Meanwhile, Stefan and Matu are busy picking up toys from the floor and putting them in their pillowcases.
Stefan: . . stepping up to me and demanding.. ... "You need to tell me a verse"
Andrew:. losing his nerves... "If you don't go to bed right now, I will be very mad! It already half past nine, So go to bed right now!".
Stefan: ... laughing and handing me a plane he made from nails, toothpicks, and elastic, with two screws for propellers.. "That was a good verse... here is your present"
Matu: ... corning up to me with his pillow case stuffed with toys just like Santa Claus. "Versley then you get a present...but NOT to keep for always and always ... Hey daddy".
For a long time, Mathew was afraid to sleep alone. He always wanted to sleep with Florian. And when he wanted something, he usually got lt. Susanne successfully convinced him to sleep alone by offering to give him 1 Frank for each night he slept alone.
Stefan: "I don't find that fair... And what do I get.. I hadn't slept with Florian for a long time".
Susanne: "Ya, you sleep alone.. and I should pay you for that? what would you pay me for sleeping alone without Andrew?"
Stefan: "A slap!"
********
No comments:
Post a Comment