1-14-2016

While I was walking around the ship I went into one of the stores. It had a beautiful bracelet with German pennies. I was so excited. I found out they only took German money not dollars in that store. My parents got all the rest of their German currency together so I could buy it. But it was not enough. Some of the people on board heard about it and everybody tried to help. How sweet was that. Mr and Mrs. Katsch gave me the most. I was sitting with them a while and listened to them tell me something that stayed with me forever. She told me that this was her second marriage. Her first husband was very handsome and tall and everybody thought he was the most handsome man ever. But she said he treated her very bad. Was only concerned about himself and what he wanted. She continued telling me,  my husband now is not very handsome to others , not very tall, does not make heads turn but he treats me like a queen. She told me to always remember this,  its what's in the heart that counts not what others see on the outside. I always thought about that and even told my kids about it.
Well I finally got all the money together to get the beautiful bracelet, which I still have. I was showing it off to everybody. I was a happy camper. I still can't believe all these strangers were so sweet to me and helped me get a bracelet. My parents talked to a lot of people after that. It was really nice. I got to know many other kids to do things with. I loved going to the movies a lot. It did not cost anything and it was so much fun. I never got to do that before. I would sit on the lawn chair and look at the sky. It was so clear and  the workers would give me a blanket cause it was cold in October. I felt so grown up.  I loved to explore the ship.  How exciting. There was never enough time to see all.
Everything was going well until one day we woke up and it was so scary!

                                                            My beautiful Bracelet

11-12-2015

The Boat was going further and further away from the Port. An awful feeling like a big knot was building in my stomach. We slowly step by step went back to the cabin. It was a long night, thinking and wondering.

Early in the Morning we went to get Breakfast. It was a huge room with tables everywhere. White tablecloth and very nice dishes. We had 3 waiters. Wow how cool is this? One I liked especially. He looked like he should go and shave, but I think he only looked like it. We always called him the unshaven one. The food was so marvelous. Fruits were everywhere. I loved it. We could choose what we wanted. I felt like a little princess. The Menus were great.

This is the first Menu we received at the first Dinner on board.

This boat was like a little City. A movie theater, a place to pray, shops to buy things, a Day Care for all ages of kids and many, many games you could play on board. There were chairs and tables to sit outside and lounge chairs. We met really wonderful people on board. Lots of kids played together and we all became friends. My parents always had people they were talking to. There was an older couple. She was tall and very pretty and her husband was short and not very handsome.

An odd couple .I will never, ever forget them. I would write to them for many years to come until they died. They were always laughing and holding hands. You could see they loved each other. The couple's name was Katsch. 

7-30-15

The morning had come where we had to leave our home. What a heartbreak it was. I saw my moms eyes and her face and it broke my heart  to see her like this... Nowadays I understand what a sacrifice she made to go to America. She had to leave friends , her home , her customs, her language and all that she loved behind.
We had a Taxi pick us up. No friends, no neighbors ,no people from church. We were it. It was a lonely thing. Well , we had each other. Like always my MOM and Dad were strong people.
To me it seemed like the drive took forever. It was a gloomy day on top of it. Perfect when you already feeling  sad.
Well,  we finally got to Bremerhaven . All the different Ships you could see. What an amazing place. I really am going on one of these great big Ships. I had never seen anything like it. It felt like a dream. Which Boat are we going on, I wondered. It was The "Norddeutscher Lloyd.The  buildings in the town I came from were  not even this tall. We went up and up on the Ship. A Steward  showed us to our Cabin. What a beautiful cabin it was. It was like a Hotel in the water. We even had our own Bathroom. I loved it!
Soon my Mom said hurry up we want to go on Deck when we leave. There were sooo many people thinking the same thing. We found a place where we could see the families  from other people on the port waving and yelling a few last words. Everybody was crying and sobbing. All of a sudden it hit me really bad. This is it!!!!!! These were the last moments in Germany. I asked my mom: why don't we have anybody waving to us  like all the others? My Mom was so smart, she said, pretend that all those people are your friends waving to you. I waved and jumped up and down and yelled like I never did before. It was a great idea. I had so much fun pretending.
The sounds of the waves , the people and and the Ships Horn is something I will never forget!
And off we were to the Big Unknown!

4-25-15

The day was coming closer and closer for us to leave.  I kept feeling this knife stabbing me in the stomach. It was my heart turning and twisting and hurting.I could not get it to stop. Please just stop this hurt!
Then was my going away party. I had so much fun with my friends. We drank hot chocolate and eat cake. We laughed so much that I spit all the hot chocolate over my food. That made it even more fun.Everybody laughed so hard that I could not eat or drink anymore.  I received beautiful gifts. At night we went outside and Schorschi told me he wished my girlfriend would leave not me.  I always thought I was not very important but my girlfriend was. You never know in life how people feel unless you leave  .It was the hardest Day to say Good Bye.
My mom told me to let go of the past and try to enjoy the future. I tried to do this. At least today.
Well  our big container is being picked up. The men are strong but you can tell they would rather be somewhere else. I could hear their groan and words I never heard before. I read on the container it was going to Tulsa, Oklahoma. That was  a place I heard were lots of horses. How will I ever get along. I can't ride a horse. I ride a streetcar. A motorcycle, a car, a bicycle and roller skates.
The house seemed weird. It was not empty but it had no personal things anymore. How strange.
The next day we went to town to get more chocolate and sweets and just to have a last look around before we would leave.  To me it seemed like my friends were backing off to see me. It made me feel even worse. But it was their way of dealing with it, I guess.
My mom and I went one more time to Town. To buy our favorite chocolate.

These were some of the chocolates we got. Oh how I loved them.
I have to tell you a secret. I always wore flip flops when I went somewhere. That was not ok by people in those days. But my Mom bought me some out of wood. She really always did what she thought was good , not others. Here I was flip flopping down the street with my Mom and looking at all the stores in Town eating chocolate. And of course like always people would stop my Mom to talk and talk. No wonder my Mom loved her life there. This I understand much more now.
We stayed in Town until it got dark. Then we silently went home knowing it was the last time we would see the streets, the stores and the trees on the way home. It was kind of sad.
I would be sleeping in my bed for the last time,seeing my home only one more night.
My mom aloud me to stay outside even though it was dark. My friends all came out for the last time too.
I received a beautiful ring. Yes from a guy. Someone gave me a kiss good bye.  I really liked him, but never realized he liked me that much. I said good bye for the last time to everyone. Made sure I had every ones address. Then we all cried and went our separate ways.
I was laying in bed trying to sleep but it was really hard. I was scarred but happy and sad at the same time.Tomorrow we were leaving for the City of Bremen to go on a Ship to America! I could not believe that we were doing it. All of a sudden I felt so special. My dad kept saying this is a place where Freedom is as important there as  it is to him. And Freedom is super important to all generations after him. Each one of us believes that it is what makes the U.S.A. different from  any other place. How lucky are we!

3-16-2015

The next few month were very stressful. I finally told all of our friends. It was so hard to think I would never see them again. I cried so much at night. My heart was so often in my stomach. I did not even want to think what my mom was feeling. The hurt of leaving our home and leaving everything behind. My dad was so excited I don't think he even realized how hard it was for us.

I had to get all the immunizations the U.S. had told us we had to have. I was always sick as a little girl so I had no immunizations. The doctor said he was worried when I would get them now, that he had no idea how I was going to react. Without them we could not go,  so my wonderful Doctor gave me the once I had to have. I still remember the doctor had to use a small knife to cut my skin and pour a liquid in it. It hurt so bad. I finally had it done and I thought this was it. But I started getting very sick. My fever was going higher and higher. My mom was getting scared. The doctor told her what to do to get the fever down. But it would not go down.My Mom made compresses with Vinegar and sat at my site the whole time. I remember hallucinating and being in a world of my own. It was not a nice place to be. It took a while for me to get through this. But I did and life went on. I still have the scar to proof it. My parents had to sell the car and friends of theirs were going to sell all the furniture. I was able to take some toys and all my clothes. My mom took her sewing basket. It meant the world to her.  

I cant believe it but it still exists.

3-12-2015

Our drive home from Frankfurt was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Everyone of us was in their

own thoughts. My stomach was turning. Wow what a Birthday.

When we got home we went to Bed,  it was a hard Day. Before I fell asleep I heard my Mom crying.

 It broke my heart. I knew it was because my Mom did not want to leave. My dad always had  fun

when we were doing something new. His Adventurous  nature made Life fun. But this time it was

something really big.

When I thought of America I thought of Indians and cowboys and old run down Towns. It was kind

of scary,  yet exciting.  What would this new Land be like? Are people running around with guns like

in the Cowboy movies ?Or is it the wild wild west? What do people eat there? All these questions

were going through my mind. But the scariest thing was not knowing the language. America seemed

so far away. Not like nowadays where you are there in no time at all.

From now on everything we did was with moving on our mind. We could not take much so it was

very hard to decide what to take with us. We thought about this all the time. My dad tried for us to

still have a lot of fun. We went camping, visited friends and family and did those things that we

would never be able to do again. My mom decided to give me a going away party. What a great idea.

So we started to plan who to invite and when to do it. We decided to do it a week before we would

leave.

Then my dad ordered a huge crate for us , so we could pack and get all our thing in it. When it got

there it was such a hard thing for the men to bring it to our Apartment. We lived upstairs in the 3rd

story. No Elevator of course.

This box was so big I could walk inside and play.




All of our possession would go inside here.Wow that is not a lot for everyone.

3-4-2015

The Day started just like any other Day.It was my Birthday June 30th. 1964. and my dad is taking us to Frankfurt (Germany) to check out what you have to do to immigrate to the U.S.A. My Dad always had these out of the ordinary ideas.This one sure was. Mom told us it will be a fun trip! We had not been there before.We will see, was more what I was thinking.
We drove forever. We sang and tried to count all the red cars.
When we finally got to the consulate my stomach was growling. I was so hungry .My parents kept saying we'll only be a minute. Well we went inside. There was a huge room. In one corner was a place to take pictures, there was an examining room  in the other corner, really cool looking. And then there was an information desk,  a desk where translators were and in the way back was a store with souvenirs.
We kept standing in line for this and that. So boring. I kept thinking. This is my Birthday?
I kept playing with my doll I had with me." When will we go, " I was thinking.
We were sitting again waiting for something , when a lady said we could go into the consuls office. My mom said oh that is odd to just get info.
But ok.
Well ,we went inside to the consul. He asked a lot of questions to my parents about money and other personal things. I kept thinking that is none of his business. But when grownups talk, kids were quite. I would have never thought of budding in.
All of a sudden, he made us all get out of our chair, raise our right hand, even me and say "JA".
I almost laughed out loud.Then He shook my parents hands and congratulated them. My dad bowed his head and my mom just stood there. that was unbearable.We went outside the room and i was aloud to pick a  gift in the store. I got these dancing dolls. Now that was fun for a change.In the car my parents looked at the paperwork. and it said that we had until October 30th. to leave for the United States of America. there was a silence that was unbearable. I don't even want to know what my Mom was thinking.
Then my dad said"well at least we can still go on vacation.We started saying all the different places in Germany we wanted to go visit before we would leave Germany for ever and ever.
Suddenly it hit me, we were leaving home for good. No coming back once we left. My friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my god I loved my friends. My girlfriend Karin and Schorschi and Gerd.
I got this feeling of throwing up. This can not be true .Oh what have they done!!




This is a picture of Frankfurt.