It's my turn with the Sisters Bible and I am so excited!
This is my chair, it's where I always sit but it's also where I do my reading!
Sister Pat was so kind in sending me a lovely note, some mints and a beautiful tea towel!!
This is exquisite and it has one of my favorite Bible verses!!!
I thought that I would share my background, as I feel it's important in my Testimony to God's extravagant love and mercy! I know that some of the Sisters are already familiar with me but there are some that aren't. Besides, I am very proud of my family, warts and all!
My mother was born on May 6th, 1938. My grandparents, Wilhelm & Marguerite Tandler were married June 26, 1926 in Aussig, Sudetenland (now known as the Czech Republic). My grandfather Wilhelm was a carpenter by trade.
(Wilhelm & Marguerite Tandler, June 26, 1926.)Wilhelm's parents, Theodore & Anna Tandler had had 2 daughters that died when they were young, before he was born. For years it was believed that there was a curse in the family associated with music. Both daughters died of some type of choking incident while Theodore was playing music away from home. After the second daughter died, he gave up music forever. I was told that the curse skipped every other generation, meaning my grandfather Wilhelm could play but my mother could not. It would be okay for me to play but my children could not, etc. Theodore suffered a severe head injury in a railroad accident and died a year later leaving Anna to care for 2 year old Wilhelm. Anna remarried and she and her husband, OPA (Grandfather) Peck had 2 sons together, Curt & Erwin.
My grandmother, Marguerite was one of 15 children born to her parents, Franz and Barbra Novak. She was one of the middle children and witnessed some of her younger siblings die while they were still small.
(My Great-Grandparents, Oma & Opa Novak.)When Wilhelm & Marguerite married, they joined other family members in purchasing a home in Aussig. Inside were 4 "apartments" and an agreement was made that the 4 couples would all work together refurbishing the house. When it came time to work on my grandparents apartment, the others wanted to be compensated for their work. A family feud erupted and my grandparents quietly, on the sly, sold their interest in the house to strangers. The economy was in bad shape and they had friends that had moved to Montevideo, Uruguay and were doing well. They made the decision to move there as well in 1928 but due to the ship's passage schedule they wound up settling in Buenos Aries, Argentina. Not long after their arrival to South America, their son Eric was born. When he was only 2 weeks old, he became ill and in route home from the doctor's office on the streetcar, he died in my grandmother's arms. My mother vaguely remembers her father telling her of an older sister she had that died in infancy as well. In 1938, Wilhelm & Marguerite's only surviving child was born, my mother Helga. Marguerite was 37 and Wilhelm was 42.
(The Tandler family, Buenos Aries, Argentina)After being gone from family for more than 11 years, they made the decision to move back home to Sudetenland. They boarded a ship in 1939 and set sail across the ocean, homeward bound. If they had had any inkling that Hitler would wage a world war and invade Poland they would've stayed put! They purchased a home in Eichwald and put all their assets into my mother's name in case there was a civil lawsuit due to the family feud fiasco in 1928.
(Bound for Europe, 1939, my mother is in a bonnet, above the porthole.)My mother grew up in Eichwald with Opa Peck living in nearby Teplitz. Oma (Anna) Peck had passed away while they were in South America.(Oma & Opa is the more formal equivalent of grandmother & grandfather in German) My mother remembers going to his house and playing with Uncle Curt. As Hitler marched across Europe, Uncle Curt was drafted into the German Army. He was shot and killed in Holland in the last days of the war by a sniper. Uncle Erwin had been sent to an extermination camp in the the 1930's because he was slow and mildly retarded. Although he lived with his parents, he worked a job and took care of himself. Unfortunately Hitler didn't believe that someone like him could be a productive, contributing member of society so he wasn't allowed to live. Anna died not long after.
My mom told me how once when she was a little girl at school, the air raid sirens went off. School was dismissed early and as she ran towards her home, she watched the bombers fly overhead and drop their bombs on Teplitz where there were several factories. Opa Peck's home was damaged in the many air raids and so he came to live with them.
My grandfather was too old to serve in the regular German Army like his much younger brother Curt, so instead he was drafted into the "home guard". On May 6th, 1945, my Mother's 7th birthday she and my grandmother baked a cake and boarded a streetcar in order to see my grandfather and to celebrate my Mother's birthday. While waiting to transfer to a second streetcar, they heard that Germany had surrendered. Instead of being jubilant, they were filled with terror because the Russian Army was bearing down on their town. They immediately headed back home.
When word got to my Grandfather that the Russians were coming and would occupy Eichwald and Teplitz, he was filled with fear. Being in German uniform, reluctantly I might add, he knew that the Russians would shoot him on sight or at the very least, send him to a POW camp. He ran from his post through the woods and headed for home. When he got there, he stripped off the uniform and my grandmother took it back to the woods and buried it. She returned to their house just ahead of the first Russian troops.
As the troops entered the town they went into private homes and began looting, stomping feather beds, urinating wherever they pleased and generally "acting like animals" to quote my grandmother. Reaching my grandparents home, 3 soldiers announced they would be taking up residence there and would be back later, with more troops. My grandmother took my mother and hid in the basement behind some shelving that my grandfather had built.
In the morning, expecting to find their home in shambles she and my mother were in shock to see that everything was fine. (The first of many Divine interventions). My grandfather told her that after she had left, an officer came to their house. The Lieutenant went inside, looked around and said that he would like to stay there because it would make suitable headquarters for him and his staff. While looking through the house, he saw a photo of my mother and grandmother and asked where they were. My Grandfather lied and said they were sick and at the hospital. The officer told him that if he had thought that he had had a family, he wouldn't have commandeered their house. Sensing that this was actually a decent man, my Opi quickly realized the advantages of having this man stay in their home and how it would afford them some protection against the less disciplined troops roaming the streets. (Omi & Opi is a less formal term similiar to grandma & grandpa)
(The picture that that the Russian Officer saw.)
They were allowed to "live" in their bedroom (Omi & Opi, my mom and Opi's stepfather, Opa Peck). They were required to cook, clean and do laundry for the Lieutenant and his aides. One of the aides, my mothersaid was only 17 or 18, would actually "play" with her because she reminded him of his younger sister back home in Russia. Despite the presence of the officer, he couldn't be at the house 24/7, some of the soldiers would still get drunk and become verbal. During those times, my Omi feared being raped so she would take my mother and herself to one of her hiding places, leaving Opi and Opa Peck to bear the brunt of the workload. Once while my mother and Omi were hiding, a drunken Russian soldier pulled a gun on Opi but for whatever the reason, again Divine Intervention, Opi was unharmed. The lady who lived downstairs from them was raped by soldiers and never seen again. My Omi was fluent in Russian, Czech, German as well as Spanish!
After 2 weeks of Russian occupation, the army was on the move again. The next year would see their return as well as a return to occupation. The people were given a choice, stay or leave. Remembering what they had been through, they decided to leave. Opa Peck had passed away by then so Omi & Opi took whatever they could carry. Having been told that their exile would be 2 years at the most, Omi hid the more valuable stuff and buried the rest. My mother carried one toy with her- a doll which she has to this day, "URSULLA". They boarded a train, my Mom said they were locked up in boxcars, in what turned out to be the last train, settling refugees in West Germany. Everyone else and most of their family were shipped to East Germany! They never saw their home again since Communism wouldn't collapse until 1990!Another Divine intervention! Omi's sister, Aunt Hilda was sent to a Russian work camp where she nearly lost her feet to frostbite.She was eventually released and was somehow able to make her way out of East Germany.
(My Mom with Ursulla).My mother said things were actually worse after the war, there was never enough to eat and many times they begged for food and many times they went hungry. Post-war Germany was a rough place to live! My mother's exposure to the American GI's convinced her that she would one day live in America.
(The aftermath of war is clearly visible not only in their faces but in their body language as well.)
(Eventually, things did get better, My Mom in 1952.)
My father was a young man from Missouri, stationed in Friedberg Germany with the Army when he met my mother in 1959. She was living near the base and my parents eventually married. My father actually knew Elvis and my mother worked at a store off the base where he would come in and purchase gifts for family & friends back home.
(My parents dancing their cares away at the "Oasis Club", near the base.)My father finished his tour of duty in August of 1960 and I was born just 3 weeks after he brought my mother to America!
(My parents on their Wedding day).My parents divorced when I was only 6 and as children, we don't truly appreciate our parents when we're young. My mother is one of the most amazing, strong and courageous women on the planet! I can't even imagine how hard it was to be a single mom in the 1960's, basically shunned by the Catholic church and living a half a world away from your only family! True, she is an immigrant to this country but unlike many of today's immigrants, she didn't expect a handout. It makes her angry to see today's immigrants and their attitudes, it disrespects her and America as well. Never in her wildest dreams would she have come to this country, not even knowing the language! She worked hard and respected the laws of this country, maintaining her legal status as a registered alien until she became an American citizen. To her credit, she raised me without any financial support from my father and gave me opportunities that my friends could only dream about. How many of them went to private Catholic schools, took ballet lessons or traveled to Europe to visit their grandparents? Not a one!
My Mom has had to endure a lot of hurts and hardships in her lifetime of 72 years. Every time she's been knocked down, she's gotten up and stood strong. her most recent struggle is with her cancer. She still believes that in spite of its problems, America is the best place on earth to live! She has even taken piano lessons, learning to play the piano, something she wanted to do when she was a child but never allowed to because of the family "curse".
