TwEeThUmBsUp

Back to the Roots

I went missing for some days, hehehe. Actually, hubby and I went to Thüringen- the birthplace and hometown of my dear hubby. Incidentally, where his parents still lives. My father-in-law, Günther, celebrated his 70th birthday this month. Two reasons why this had to be very grand and special: First, it is a "round" number birthday. Second and probably more important was the fact that he lived longer than his doctor speculated. My father-in-law was declared dying 35 years ago. His health failed so bad, that it came to a point when NO insurance company would cover him anymore. So, we really had to celebrate it BIGTIME!

He knew that we were coming over, but what he didn't know was the big birthday bash that his dear wife, Helga organized for him. Of course, with the help of my ML and the twins, Martina & Jürgen. His relatives who are scattered and friends who are still alive were invited. When we got there, most of his friends and relatives were already there. Since we ML and I still had to work Friday, unavoidably, we got there only Saturday around lunch time, just before the Party started. Luckily, we were not the last ones who came...hehehe,(hindi lang Filipina ang late, german din). Somebody from Mainz came in much later.

Anyway, the party was of course a success....

The celebration started at Lunch time on the 10th. We had Lunch at the local restaurant in Gräfenthal which was reserved only for the occassion. It pays knowing the owner, hehehe. Talks about the past DDR times, cooking, baking, fishing, literature and about the deceased friends of the celebrant was never ending. After lunch, we had a small siesta. Then we were back again at the table for Kaffee Trinking with cakes, tarts and pie to the guests delight. Talks continued like lunchtime was not interrupted. This time, the topic was about the people who could not make it to the celebration. Though, they managed to call to greet him happy birthday.

My father-in-law said, he got the first call at six o'clock in the morning. being old and sickly, the first reaction he had was that of course of a "grumpy old man", although he is not always grumpy.

Günther: My God, who can be calling at this time of the day?
Helga: It is your birthday, Günther. Everybody would want to greet you...
Günther : I was born only at ten a.m. not at six - 70 years to this date! Tell them to call back at ten...

I was laughing my heart out to this. Then music came up. Not only English should be played. It had to be German music. So, Ml had to look for the celebrant's type of music. Unfortunately, the songs from the first cd found were not old enough, so, Jürgen had to go look for another. Actually, jürgen prepared a cd with all of my father-in-laws favorites but in mp3 format. The problem was, it would not play on my ML's mp3 player. I never found out what was wrong with it. Jürgen had to go to a friend's house to get the problem fixed, since neither he nor my ML brought their burners with them. After Kaffee trinken, we went for a short walk around the small city. I noticed that almost everybody knew about the birthday celebration. People we met on the streets stopped by to greet the celebrant. I guess this is due to the fact that the city is quite small, more like a village actually and the celebrant has lived there almost all his life. It was very similar to Filipino ways indeed.

At 18:00, more guests started coming in for the evening event. Champagne was served and the evening party started. Dinner was served at half-past seven. The buffet table was deliciously prepared, the menü was wonderfully chosen & the desert was just as perfect as the appetizers and the main course. Drinks were served all night long to the guests' preferrence.

After dinner, a small presentation was made. There was the short skit about the life of the celebrant. Then there was the presentation of photos from childhood to present. I found it very touching. Instead of my ML narrating something about the photos, the celebrant could recall them himself, and ended up telling the visitors about the pictures. He was teary eyed from each story. He was remembering eveyrthing out in the open, sharing to us all those memories. The dancing and drinking went on until 03:00 in the morning.

The following morning, as we all gathered for breakfast, we could all see the joy of that my father felt. It was quite taxing for him, he admitted, but the intense happiness he felt was all over his aura. It seemed to me like he didn't want that time to end. The rest of the day was a little bit more calm, being Sunday. We went for a long walk over the mountains, to the castle and then back. In the afternoon, some relatives started to say their goodbyes, since most of them still need hours to drive back home. ML & I stayed until the 14th. Then it ws also time for us to go. I honestly felt terrible leaving this time. It seemed like the the wonderful weekend was only a dream. Then it was back again to reality. Just my parents-in-law living in that house and the rest of the family are scattered elsewhere.

Posted by missP at July 19, 2004 02:30 AM