Being in Europe affords us a chance to catch up with friends we have not seen for a while. In this case, our friend Michael (who is also godfather of our older son) and his wife Kirsten worked hard to get us and Peter and Roswitha together for his birthday… we were students together in Mainz a long time ago (and the males were already classmates and friends in the Domgymnasium (high school)). This promised to be an interesting experience: we haven’t seen Peter & Roswitha for about 18 years. Would we still have anything in common to relate to given that we have been leading somewhat different lives? Would the time changed them? (has it changed us??) On the surface the question can be answered: I believe we all exhibited similar mannerisms and traits as we did when we were students (more maturity and life experience notwithstanding). Or were we just falling back into the old roles and habits (as one does so often, say, when visiting family)?? Of course, after such a long time the relationship needs to be somewhat built anew, which takes a while, longer than one afternoon/evening and morning. In any case we did have a great time, some reminiscing for sure yet we also did have lots of good discussions about contemporary themes (hmm, did that in Mainz too). The dinner they had arranged for was in a nice Gasthaus with typical food for the area and a great beer selection, just what we needed after a not-too-long walk through the woods. We were joined by Michael and Kirsten’s “kids” Paul and Ruth (who had visited us iin California a few years back). We were joined for dinner by Gerd Kossow, also of Domgymnasium fame. This weekend was a real treat. Hopefully it won’t be as long before we meet again (says he who will disappear to California again later this year…).
Three students, on the trail. (Wait! I am not that small! And that grey??) (Photo: Sylvia (we need to talk!))
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