The Happy Times

(Source)

When you reach a certain age (not that I'm there, yet) you start to realize that the bulk of your existence lies in your wake, you're getting near the edge of the chart, and you've got the quartermaster digging for the connecting chart. Hoping that there is a connecting chart and that the end of your voyage through the squalls and vicissitudes of this life isn't winding down. We all come to the end of the trip eventually.

I don't know about you but as I get older I start to look back at the journey, remembering both the good times and the bad times (you know I've had my share), and while you hope that there are good times yet to come, you might just get nostalgic for certain periods in your life. I know I do.

That opening photo shows the Ortseinfahrt (city limits) of the wee village of Waldfeucht in Germany, where I lived for over seven years. I traveled that road Monday through Friday all those years. (For those who like such trivia, there were very few speed limit signs in Germany. When you passed one of those yellow signs above, that marked the beginning of a 50 kph speed limit. Outside of town the speed limit was 100 kph. Those were things you were supposed to know, it was in the book, right along with red means stop, etc., etc. On the autobahn, there are stretches where the sky is the limit. With certain caveats and restrictions in some areas, like the Ruhr industrial area. But yes, I digress.)

One of the happiest periods of my life was spent in Waldfeucht, from roughly 1993 to 1997. Why? Well, in 1993 the kids were still young, The Naviguesser was 14, The Nuke was 11, and The WSO (aka LUSH) was only 9. We had just adopted two wee felines, Pat and Tiger, my job was interesting, the people I worked with were outstanding, and life was just ducky.

What's more, we seemed to have fun all the time. The number of good days made the very few bad days statistically insignificant. Life was simpler as well.

As Americans living in Germany our television options were somewhat limited, there was the Armed Forces Network (AFN) which gave us our sole American channel (a couple of Dutch channels occasionally broadcast newer American shows in English as well) and many hours of laughter. Not from the shows presented mind you, but from the often ridiculous public service announcements which aired in place of commercials. Many of the taglines from those spots the progeny will still use from time to time.

Heck, we even watched wrestling, every Saturday. It was a blast.

The kids were all involved in sports: soccer and baseball/softball. As they were involved, so were The Missus Herself and Your Humble Scribe. We lived about 30 minutes from the base, where most of the games took place. During the spring, summer, and fall, we spent a lot of time on the base. Coaching, cheering the kids on, and even officiating at the kids' games.

We met a lot of good people and had great times. Most of the American contingent in NATO did their grocery shopping in the Netherlands at the little army post of Schinnen. They had a nice Post Exchange and a Commissary which were the nearest U.S. facilities to where we lived.

That was one of the nice things about NATO, it wasn't an assignment to a big American base where it felt like you had never left the United States. Our neighbors were primarily German, though there were a couple of other American families in Waldfeucht. It felt like we were in a foreign country and got to experience many of the traditions and culture of that part of Germany.

Opportunities for travel abounded. The whole family had the chance to spend a week in Bavaria (Oberammergau) while I attended a NATO school. The kids were able to cut loose from school with the proviso that they did the homework assigned and write a report about the trip (which reminds me of an excellent story, POCIR). The school system was set up to optimize those opportunities for travel.

The two cats which we adopted in July 0f 1993 were a key ingredient in our happiness back then. They were the first pets our kids ever had, and the first pets The Missus Herself had really had. (Where she lived in Korea had cats, working cats, they were there to keep the vermin under control. While her family had a dog, he was more of a watch dog. While some Koreans do eat dog, my wife's family did not. They found the custom disgusting. As do I. And that's all I'll ever say about that.)

The cats were six weeks old when we got them, they grew up with the kids and tolerated them very well. Young kittens need to be socialized to deal with children and these two were. The kids loved the cats and the cats loved the kids. Good times.

It ended when my father-in-law passed away, quite unexpectedly. Then The Naviguesser left to go back to the States for college. A year later our little Tiger died from complications of kidney disease, he was only five and the entire clan was devastated. While the happy times continued and continue still, it was different. For five years we had had the perfect existence, we were together and we were young. Everything just seemed to click. Those years were a golden age for my tribe.

Don't get me wrong, things are excellent now. I cherish my kids and grandkids, though they all live so very far away we visit as often as we can. The two cats we have now are wonderful, though they don't tolerate little kids very well, I believe it was The Nuke who first called them "old people cats." They're used to the more sedate life style of mature adults and generally go into hiding when the grands come to visit.

Life is good, I am blessed beyond measure, but man, those few years in Germany provide memories I will cherish forever. I think of those days as "The Happy Times." Things seemed perfect and probably were.

Now the kids are all grown and moved away, they're making their own family memories separate from ours. It's what I did, it's what my father before me did, and what his father did before him. It is the way it's supposed to be.

Good times.