Goodbye, My Children

By Angela Diener

The story of an American family which travels to Germany to join their U.S. Air Force husband, and father to live in a small village where no one spoke English. When a next door neighbor invites herself into their daily lives, speaking only German phrases and uses pantomime to communicate, she endears herself to them.

Life becomes a series of events, some comical, some aggravating yet tender, interspersed with some calamitous and fearful experiences, with this neighbor affecting every moment of their lives. Lynne, at first annoyed with the realization she was losing her ability to have control of her familys schedule, comes to appreciate this gentle soul who was destined to befriend them.

In light of the events that occur, she begins to search her inner depths and to realize her need to depend on her faith which had been neglected while she attended to their daily lives. It was during worrisome times that she turns to her Lord for strength and trusts His promises, accepting Him as her anchor and Saviour.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781475968538

Angela Diener

Angela Diener wrote her first story at 15 yrs old. Married a man in the U.S. Air Force, joined him in England, where they lived for a year, travelled to California, Georgia, Florida and Germany consecutively, settled in New Hampshire. Raised five children. Wrote Vignettes, poetry & newspaper articles. Wrote Goodbye, my Children, and then went to work, as secretary and bookkeeper alternately.

Book preview

Goodbye,

My Children

By

Angela Diener

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

Goodbye, My Children

Copyright © 2013 by Angela Diener.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-6852-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-6853-8 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012923953

iUniverse rev. date: 01/15/2013

Scripture References: King James Version

Contents

Introduction

I Their Arrival

II Entrance of a new friend

III Getting Acquainted

IV The neighbor’s Assertiveness

V Adjusting to their new life

VI Family Growth

VII A Farmer at heart

VIII Village Scenes

IX Maria’s life

X Disturbing Events

XI Roger’s Crisis

XII Dealing with sickness

XIII Depending on the Lord

XIV Love has no end

XV Learning to Trust

XVI Happy Holidays

XVII Practical Decisions

XVIII Seeking the Helper

XIX Their neighbor’s needs

XX Delight for a day

XXI Maria’s new hopes

XXII Visiting Maria

XXIII Base Housing at last

XXIV A surprise visitor

XXV Camping in Garmisch

XXVI Travelling Dangers

XXVII Camping in Italy

XXVIII Furlough time again

XXIX Unexpected Events

XXX Stark realization

Introduction

When Lynne Davis took her four children to Germany to join her Air Force husband on his four-year tour of duty there, she felt apprehension for what might be in store for them, yet she rejoiced in the fact that their family would be together once more.

In a quaint German village where they were to make their home, Lynne found herself faced with isolation on the one hand, since there was no one around who spoke any English, and intimidation on the other when a tiny peasant neighbor walked into their lives and proceeded to disrupt it with her own stubborn personality. Like an unwanted mother-in-law, she forced her ways on them, spoiling the children, and often conniving to arrange their daily routine according to her schedule.

Amusement and curiosity turned to resentment and anger when Lynne no longer felt in control of her family. It took sudden illness and near tragedy in the family for Lynne to begin to appreciate the worth of this friendship. As Maria volunteered herself, Lynne came to realize that Maria’s entrance into their lives had been predestined. This realization causes her to re-examine herself, her motives and her own personal values, thus awakening a need for the Lord to direct her life, just as He had catapulted this unusual human being into their paths.

I

Their Arrival

Lynne dozed occasionally as their car sped through dense forestland and past open fields but when Bob swung into the silent village of Mittelstrimmig about midnight and called softly to awaken her, she sat up stiffly, unconsciously drawing the baby closer to her. A cold chill crept up her spine as she stared at dark shapes looming up on both sides of them like stern sentinels. Only after closer scrutiny did she laugh silently at herself for being fearful of steep-roofed barns, though apprehensions of their life ahead in this foreign land persisted; it was August 1961.

As their Opel station wagon joggled along the cobblestoned street, they passed tiny cottages separated only by wooden fences, their windows almost close enough to be touched by passing motorists. Heavy stone slabs emerged abruptly out of the cobblestones to form steps which led up to the dark oaken door of a large stone edifice, its steeple towering mightily over the lonely square reminding visitors of its authority.

In the center of the square stood an antiquated stone well, an old bucket hanging inside waiting to quench the thirst of a passerby, and a long wooden bench, which Lynne would learn was the village meeting place, the link of communication for the gossiping and sharing of news; the place to retreat when the chores were done.

They drove on until the cottages grew fewer and open fields stretched out once more, then Bob slowed down, pulled in beside a fence at the edge of the road and stopped the car.

We’re here.

Lynne peered out at the dark outline of a house which stood silhouetted against the sky. Bob shook the children awake.

Where? Where?

Three faces pressed their noses against the window.

Is that it? Is that our yard, Daddy?

Lynne adjusted the blanket around the sleeping child in her arms, pushed open the door and climbed out into the tall weeds. Taking a breath of the cool night air, she glanced around her, thankful for the open space and the trees, thankful too that Bob had not chosen a house in the crowded village they had just passed.

Here’s your doll, Lori, Bob beckoned, as he pulled out suitcases and handed parcels and clothing to each of the children to carry.

My monkey’s losted! wailed April, crouching behind the front seat searching the floor.

Oh, quit crying, here it is, Roger scolded, forgetting for the moment that he no longer needed to assume responsibility now that his father was there. You were sleeping on it. And you almost squashed my model airplane too. Just look at it!

As the drowsy group burdened with bundles staggered up the stone path to the front door, the baby, now awake, clung tightly to her mother’s neck. The military air transport plane flight that had brought four excited children and their mother from McGuire AFB airport in America to Rhein-Main Air Base in Germany was now relegated to memory. Even the reunion with their father which had included ice cream sundaes in the airline cafeteria, and the long subsequent journey with its endless blinking lights of traffic whizzing past them on the dark autobahn highway had finally mesmerized them so that the chattering and squirming in their seats had ceased, and they had drifted off to sleep all huddled together in one motionless heap.

Bob switched on the light in the hallway, set down the suitcases and made his way into the kitchen. Feeling for the cord that dangled above the table, he tugged, the lamp lit and slowly began to sway back and forth, its dim bulb briefly illuminating dark corners of the room. Close behind, Lynne silently surveyed everything noticing the unpretentiousness, recalling Bob’s frank description of it in his letter. She had to admit, it needed a good deal of dressing up, but since this was, she hoped, only temporary housing, it would be extravagant to spend money on it. She hoped for an unexpected early assignment to on-base quarters.

I warned you, Bob said noticing her expression.

Lynne laughed. I guess. Well, at least it’s big enough for this gang. She handed him the baby. What’s there to eat? We’d better get them fed and off to bed before they get too wide awake, she added as the others bounded in, now lively from scampering in and out of doorways, dropping their bundles into nearby chairs.

Look, under the cupboard, there’s cans of soup. Bob made the baby comfortable on his lap, and pressed his face into her blond curls. It’s been a long time since you saw your daddy, hasn’t it?

Debbie buried her thumb in her mouth and chuckled, saliva spilling down her wrists as she studied his face.

April almost got sick on the plane, Dad, Roger confided leaning against his father’s knee, vying for attention. But not me. I even colored pictures while we were flying over the ocean.

Is that right? Bob smiled broadly at his eleven year old.

Yup. Didn’t even get scared.

Neither did I, Lori argued, drawing closer. Only April did. She had to use a paper bag the stewardess gave her.

Okay kids, Lynne interrupted. Sit down and eat now, April always gets carsick anyway. Besides, so was I nervous. She set their bowls on the table.

Yeah Dad, even Mom was. Especially after the fire. Roger, eager to dramatize, hurried on between gulps, I was sitting next to the window, looking out past the wing, when all of a sudden I saw these flames shooting out of the engine. Boy, I poked Mom, told her to look quick!

You’re going to choke, Lynne admonished, Who wouldn’t get jumpy! Silently she recalled the pilot’s reassurances as he told them to fasten their seat belts; she had gathered the children closer to her during their emergency landing in Ireland, and worried during the seemingly endless wait for repairs to be made; what would Bob do when they had not arrived at the scheduled time?

Those hours all a thing of the past now, the children, anxious only to see the rest of their new abode, slurped down the last of their soup and jumped up shoving their chairs away, urging their father to go with them. Lynne cleared the table and piled the bowls in the shallow sink for the morning cleanup.

Wow! Mom, come see! Come see the spooky cellar.

Wiping her hands on her apron, she turned to join them in the hallway. There, April, peeking curiously between her father’s tall legs, stared into an open doorway and listened as Roger and Lori dared each other to go first.

The dank musty air which floated up the old winding stairs made Lynne draw back cautiously. Not tonight, she signalled Bob, pulling at his arm.

Bob laughed. Never mind kids—Mom’s chicken. There’s plenty of time to explore tomorrow.

* * *

II

Entrance of a new friend

The shrill uneven screeching of a buzz saw shattered the morning stillness sending Lynne tumbling out of bed. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she pattered across the cool linoleum floor to peek through wooden-slatted window shutters for her first glimpse of the German countryside.

Out beyond the black wrought iron railing of the balcony she saw a crooked apple tree below, and spreading out as far as the fence, rows of overgrown cabbages, their thick outer leaves drooping and mingling with the brown crumbling earth. Is that our front yard, she wondered? It hadn’t looked so homely, so like a farm, in the darkness last night. Already