THE ELBE BACKSTORY

MY WAY BACK STORY…

It all started in 1970 when I was 16 and invited on a European holiday with a family friend and his daughter. She was my age so… we were supposed to be ‘travel buddies’ and it helped them that I spoke German - the country we started in.

The day before we departed for France, I bailed! Her dad drove like a maniac, which was scary, and she and I weren’t buddies! I didn't want to feel stuck in an uncomfortable situation. So I announced I would be staying in Germany.

I contacted my parents to tell them my decision. Then I contacted my relatives in Hamburg to see if I could stay with them until my return flight. They were very gracious and invited me in. I spent my time hanging out with them and visiting places in Hamburg.

On my last night, I was at a subway station and heard beautiful music. I stopped to listen, ended up talking with a young guy and we talked and talked and talked. We connected, clicked and I was leaving the next day! His name was Hermann and we kept up a correspondence after I returned to the U.S.

FOLLOWING MY HEART

I convinced my mother it was a very mature thing for me to quit high school in the 11th grade to get a job and earn enough money to buy airfair to Germany. So I did. It was agreed that I would take the GED and enroll in a local community college when I returned enabling me to skip the last 1.5 years of high school. Great idea!

When I got to Germany, instead of staying with my relatives again, I moved into a commune with Hermann, threw the correspondence study program in the trash and had the time of my life! When Hermann wasn’t working, we spent our time exploring. We wanted to become vegetarians. We learned about macrobiotic food prep and visited health food stores. This is when I became a vegetarian for life.

To this day, while I have a B.S degree and a M.A. degree, I don’t have a high school diploma. Instead, I attended the school of life!

Hermann & I stayed in touch…