Sojourn with Heidi

By Heidi Leitner Fearon

This delightful memoir “SOJOURN with Heidi” is written by Heidi Fearon, a remarkable woman born in Austria during WWII. Her early life was influenced by her parents, especially her mother. She was raised to be respectful, goal oriented, and adventurous. Heidi was expected to enrich her mind, her body and develop an appreciation for life. Her early travels exposed her to life changing experiences in France, England and the United States.

Heidi married her first husband, they had a son, Scott. It was important that Scott have the same opportunities she enjoyed as a child. Heidi divorced her first husband and after a period of time, she remarried. Heidi, and Cal, purchased a yacht for their ultimate adventure. For seven years Heidi was busy painting, writing, and enjoying the exotic lifestyle sailing offered. These adventures offer sailing enthusiasts a glimpse of life at sea, the fun and dangers associated with offshore sailing!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728346373

Book preview

© 2020 Heidi Leitner Fearon. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/17/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-4638-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-4639-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-4637-3 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

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Dedication to my Parents

Preface: My Story

Chapter 1     Getting to Know My Family

Chapter 2     The Things I Remember about the War

Chapter 3     After the War—A New Beginning

Chapter 4     Now I Go to Paris

Chapter 5     A New Adventure in Cambridge, England

Chapter 6     Back to Salzburg but for How Long?

Chapter 7     America, Here I Come

Chapter 8     Road Trip to Montreal

Chapter 9     Now Back to the Real World

Chapter 10   Fred Leaving Time Magazine to Start CHIMO Magazine

Chapter 11   An Old Friendship Evolves—Cal

Chapter 12   A New Start

Chapter 13   Now the Big Boat

Chapter 14   Selling the Suburban Gas Company

Chapter 15   The Caribbean 1500

Chapter 16   We Are Off Again

Chapter 17   Sailing the Caribbean Islands

Chapter 18   Sailing the Leeward Islands—Anguilla to Dominica

Chapter 19   A Season in Grenada

Chapter 20   Bermuda, Here We Come

Chapter 21   Testing Our Survival Skills

Chapter 22   Back to Syracuse, 1994

Chapter 23   Following the Wind

Chapter 24   The Passing of My Mom

Chapter 25   Return to Cal and the Good Life

Chapter 26   The US Virgins (Islands!)

Chapter 27   Concerns regarding Cal’s Health

Chapter 28   Cal’s Diagnosis Is Confirmed—Finding a Home on Hilton Head

Chapter 29   Cal’s Passing—September 24, 1998

Chapter 30   Getting the Boat Ready for Sale

Chapter 31   A Very Special Day—A Buyer for the Boat

Chapter 32   My New Life on Hilton Head as a Bachelorette

Chapter 33   The Hilton Head Island Experience

Chapter 34   Life Goes On

Chapter 35   My Love for Hilton Head Island

About the Author

Dedication to my Parents

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The name on my birth certificate is Heidegunde (now Heidi) Alrune Hildegard Leitner. I was born three weeks early, small but healthy. I was born a very lucky girl.

I had the most loving parents anybody could ever imagine. Because of their love, encouragement, and patience, I grew more and more confident at each stage of my life. Because of them, I believed I could do anything. I still feel the same way today.

I learned very early in life to love and respect others, particularly my parents. They were strict but always loving. I did my chores without complaint. I never talked back to my parents. The chores assigned to me when I was a child, like weeding the vegetable garden, making my bed, cleaning my room, washing dishes, cleaning my shoes, and doing homework, taught me self-discipline and how to eventually become an independent woman.

Expressing thanks and showing my appreciation to family and friends involved sending thank-you notes. I was around six years old when I learned to write thank-you notes. This was all about teaching respect and good manners. We made our own cards, and of course, Mom helped me with everything. She and I would walk together to the mailbox and deposit the envelope in the mail. My reward for my effort was a big hug from Mom. Today I still write thank-you notes.

Times may have been hard after the war, but I don’t remember life that way. My mother always found a way to provide for us and made it fun. She made us understand that there are things that we all want, but what’s most important in life is the love we share and what is in our hearts. She also said that whatever you give will come back to you. And it did!

Mom was a stay-at-home mom, but she was well known for the books and poetry that she wrote. To this day, I receive an income from her books and poetry.

I was always encouraged to keep a diary, to write things down, to record my impressions and memories. My mom kept all my diaries. Mom was thirty years a widow. She started traveling and continued her love and passion for writing. Writing your thoughts down does do wonders with regard to reflecting on your life. Like my mother, I kept meticulous records of the significant events in my life. The diaries that my mother kept as well as my diaries, photos, paintings, news articles, and historic memorabilia helped me immensely in writing my memoirs.

Also, thank you to my dad for giving me the coin I mention in my story. I have since learned that the coin is very valuable, and I am wearing it right now.

So Mom and Dad, thank you again for the great job you did in giving me confidence and courage and enabling me to be the master of my own life.

Have respect for the life that has been given to you, and guide it with your heart.

Preface: My Story

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My name is Heidi Leitner Fearon. I was born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1940. My parents were educated and always encouraged my brother and me to live our lives to the fullest. Life has offered me so many opportunities, and in most cases, I have chosen the path less traveled. And so there have been many adventures. I have decided to chronicle many of the events in my life, the happy and the sad, and share them with you. The experiences I’ve had and the lessons I’ve learned will be familiar. But it’s how you apply these lessons that will bring great joy to your life. I am now living in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, which I call paradise. It has been my home for the past twenty-one years. I am so thankful that I am able to enjoy every day of my life on this island. I hope you find my stories entertaining, thought-provoking, and full of good humor.

This book was written for my son, Scott, whom I treasure. He is now the proud father of my grandson, Victor. I’d also like to share my experiences with all the young people who would like to travel throughout the world but can’t imagine affording to live such a dream. I would like to tell you my story and how I got here. But first let me tell you about my first family—young Heidi, my mom, and my dad.

1

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Getting to Know My Family

My father was born in Austria in 1899. My mother was born near Berlin, Germany, in 1903. My father was one of eight brothers, six of whom lost their lives in World War II. My father and my uncle Julius were the only two surviving siblings. Losing six sons had a devastating effect on my grandfather. As a result of these losses, my grandfather committed suicide. This all happened before I was born.

I have no memories of my grandparents except for a picture of my father’s mother holding me when I was four months old. She passed away shortly after the picture was taken.

My parents met in 1932 on the lake Chiemsee in Germany. My mother was attending sailing school. All the girls had passed their sailing test, and Adolf Hitler invited all of the girls to visit him in his house in Berchtesgaden. The girls were all lined up, dressed in their white sailing uniforms. Hitler congratulated every one of them and shook their hands. My mother wrote an article in the local newspaper about this event. I have photographs of this grandiose affair.

Well, as you can guess, my mother and father fell very much in love after their first meeting at the lake. After corresponding for two years, they decided to get married!

Before my mother met my father, she worked at a children’s home as a child psychologist. She loved her job and also enjoyed taking dance lessons after work. She was earning a good salary. In fact, she had a very lovely life. But she decided to give it all up to marry my father.

My father’s life before he married was also very interesting. He was an architect. He went to Rio de Janeiro in 1926 to work on a very large project, the construction of the Copacabana Plaza.

My parents were married in 1934. It was a very big day! Because of the political situation in Germany, it was difficult for a German to marry an Austrian. My parents had to marry at the Austrian–German border. My grandfather and my mother’s brothers and sisters all came to the border to say goodbye. Once she left Germany, my mother would not be allowed to return. She had to give up her German passport.

After the war, my father continued to work as an architect and builder. His brother Julius was a medical doctor and my very favorite uncle.

I was born in 1940, during the war years. I had a brother who was two years older than me. My mother was a writer and published her first book the year my brother was born. The birth of a healthy baby boy was a major event, noteworthy to Adolf Hitler. Because I was a girl, my birth was less dramatic. I just quietly came along. However, my mom told me I was a great joy to her. She told me she had a very easy pregnancy with me, in contrast to her pregnancy with my brother, Manfred.

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My father in Rio de Janeiro, Copa Cabana Beach, 1926.

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The Sailing School in Chiemsee was invited to have pastry

and coffee with Adolf Hilter in Berschtesgaden, 1933.

2

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The Things I Remember about the War

I was only three or four, but I still remember the sound of the sirens. Whenever we heard the sirens, we all had to pack up our things and go into the mountain. The mountain was called Mönchsberg. So many times, daytime and nighttime, we had to go to the shelter.

During this time, my mom made me a little doll. The eyes were two little buttons, the hair was made of pieces of wool, and my mother embroidered lips onto the face. Actually, she was not that pretty, but she was the only doll I had! One night we were running to the mountain. There were so many people running down the street. Some had little packages they were holding tight, and I had my doll. With all the rushing and confusion, I somehow lost my doll. I was crying uncontrollably. At first my mother thought I was crying because Dad was at war or because I had hurt myself. But through my tears she heard me saying, No, no, no, it’s my doll. I lost my doll!

We never found the doll. After seeing me so sad, my mom managed to make me a new doll. Now when the sirens would ring and we had to go to the mountains, the doll stayed at home.

I also remember the water reservoir in our town. It was bombed, so there was no water coming directly to the houses. The town had a common well at the bottom of the street. Everybody went there to get drinking water. I was so small that I couldn’t carry much. My mom would say, The more water you bring home, the more hugs I’ll give you. I remember taking many trips to that well.

My father came home on leave one night when the sirens were ringing. He decided we’d go into the cellar and wait for the bombing to stop. A bomb hit the small mountain next to our house. I will never forget the air pressure from the explosion. It caused most of the windows in the house to break. The sound of breaking glass was unbelievable. I will never forget that sound. There were many deaths from that event, and we were lucky to have survived.

Growing up in Austria during the war was not easy for many people. The men were at war, and the women were raising the children and caring for their homes. I saw my father for the first time when I was about three years old. He was always smiling. He made lots of toys for us out of cigar boxes or thread spools or whatever he could find. He also loved to sing. He got up very early every day and began singing right away. I hated it, but nevertheless, he made everybody smile. And then he was gone again.

During his administration, Hitler did one good thing for women. Every school-age young lady had to spend one year in a household with children (the young women were called Pflichtjahrmädchen) to help learn how to care for a house and help raise the children. This was a great help to moms. My mother was an author and appreciated the girls’ help. It gave her more time to write her stories on her typewriter. Even when I had my nap in the afternoon, I could hear my mom on the typewriter. I will never forget her very black, very big, very ugly typewriter and the sounds that it made.

Do I remember hard times? Maybe there were some. But I never remember being hungry or cold. There were always things we wanted, things we had difficulty getting, but somehow they’d finally arrive, and everyone would be so happy and appreciative that we would forget about the long wait.

My mother had no problem providing me with shoes—my brother’s shoes were always passed on to me! I remember wanting a pair of shoes of my own only one time. I saw a pair of felt boots in a neighbor’s window next to a sign saying they were for sale. I wanted them so badly that I dreamed about them.

It was springtime, really too late in the season to buy boots. My mother tried so hard to talk me out of buying them. But I persisted, and my mother finally agreed. We went to see the nice lady down the street, and I was allowed to try on the boots. The lady asked me if there was room for growth. I said they felt sooo big! All was going well until we started to discuss the price. This nice lady wanted three dozen eggs for the boots!

We had chickens in our garden that we used for food and to trade. An egg was a very precious thing. We traded eggs for my brother’s piano lessons, and God knows what else was on the list. My mother tried reasoning with me: These are white boots—who is going to keep them clean? And we have so little soap for our clothing, and now we’ll be using precious soap to clean a pair of white felt boots?

I jumped onto my mother’s lap and gave her the biggest hug and kiss. I said, Mom, I will clean them myself. I told her that every day