When I was 12, we moved to Münster, Germany, and I started going to a new school. That's where I met Verena and we became the best of friends! Verena has recently started her own blog about life with her family, especially with their daughter Gerlinde, who has Down syndrome,
and Gerlinde's two younger sisters Constanze and Charlotte. For all my German-speaking blog friends, make sure you go visit and even those of you who don't speak German, you'll enjoy her beautiful photos and the spirit behind them! Simply click here! (And you can leave comments even in English...)
With Verena starting her blog, my thoughts have often gone back in time to when we were in school together. And one thing I remember so well (and still have) are the books of inspiration she and I put together. Here is mine:
We wrote down poems we liked, morsels of wisdom and anything else that inspired us.
Looking through it this morning, I have to say that we had a lot of wisdom for a couple of teenagers!
And here my very own drawing of a scene from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, with many moving passages from this sweet story!
This is probably the most creative project I put together during my teenage years. Do you remember our inspiration books, Verena?! Oh, what a great trip down memory lane.
and Gerlinde's two younger sisters Constanze and Charlotte. For all my German-speaking blog friends, make sure you go visit and even those of you who don't speak German, you'll enjoy her beautiful photos and the spirit behind them! Simply click here! (And you can leave comments even in English...)
With Verena starting her blog, my thoughts have often gone back in time to when we were in school together. And one thing I remember so well (and still have) are the books of inspiration she and I put together. Here is mine:
We wrote down poems we liked, morsels of wisdom and anything else that inspired us.
Looking through it this morning, I have to say that we had a lot of wisdom for a couple of teenagers!
And here my very own drawing of a scene from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, with many moving passages from this sweet story!
This is probably the most creative project I put together during my teenage years. Do you remember our inspiration books, Verena?! Oh, what a great trip down memory lane. Is there anything more important than good friends? Nothing comes to mind...
Thank you Silke, I will do!
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely post - it's so clear what a friendship you share. Have a lovely week
ReplyDeleteFriends are the mortar of life that keep us strong and upright!
ReplyDeleteI will have to check her blog--when we were stationed in Stuttgart I learned a smidge of German and so wished I could have continued to learn. I loved Germany and all the old buldings, the konditeri (is that right??? bakery/pastry shop?) and the flowers planted everywhere.
This post brought good memories back... :)
Have a great day Silke!
XXOO!!
Anne
Wow ..those journals look awesome..I wish I would have had the inspiration back then when I was younger..what great treasures these are..and I bet it is such a wonderful memory for you both..!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful! Congrats to your friend on starting her new blog...I will have to pay a visit. Maybe she could post a Google translate button? Your inspiration journal from childhood is just great. Love your sweet Little Prince illustration. :)
ReplyDeleteTheresa
I forgot to mention....my favorite were the cream horns with the rich but not too sweet whipped cream and then the tart cherry filling and I think they had a dusting of powdered sugar or castor sugar on top.
ReplyDeleteOH MY!!!!!
Did you ever have those? Were they not pure heaven???? :)
XXOO!!!
Anne.....lover of good food.....obviously!
thanks for sharing your friend with us, I'm hopping right over to visit!
ReplyDeleteFriends are something to treasure. Love that you had a book of wisdom in your teens!
ReplyDeleteYes, I did a couple of beads at Swarovski - but not many. When I saw the prices, I thought I was at De Beer's!
What a GREAT post!!! I adore the pictures of your dear friend and her precious daughters!!! I look forward to visiting her!!
ReplyDeleteGood friends are certainly a treasure in themselves....a Godsend in my eyes.
I really enjoyed looking at the pics of your inspiration journals and teenage insight!!!
xxooxxoo
Happy Monday sweet Silke
k
I think this is fantastic! High School friends! That is even better. I recently connected with one of my best friends in high school friend. We chat, email and call each other on the phone. He lives in San Francisco. I think he is gay but he won't tell me, but just the same, he is still the same kid I met in high school and we spent four years together playing and laughing. He sounds the same and I always laugh when he calls. It's like high school again.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about your life in Germany. It's a beautiful country. Do you know that The Viking is 1/4 German? Yes, his great grandparents came from Baden, Germany.
Oh Silke, we have many German documents, they are so beautiful! They are adorned with calligraphy and drawings. I think they may be marriage certificates and birth certificates. My Mother-in-law gave the Viking the family's German Bible. They wrote on it, special events, even the weather and how much the first crop from the farm sold.
What does geburne mean? Maybe I am not spelling it right.
I will visit Verena. Have a great day sweet!
How wonderful to have that connection and what a beautiful keepsake from that time in your life. And Silke, the painting of your soul is wonderful. It's what I imagined your aura to be like; beautiful & soothing.
ReplyDeleteoh so sweet Silke!!! friendships are wonderful gifts...yours is evident here!!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful read....
Yes! Geboren! BTW, the journal is a treasure - better than diamonds.
ReplyDeleteLiebe Silke - und wie ich mich erinnere!! Das war eine herrliche Zeit, die ich nie vergessen werde. Danke für deinen Post. Es sind schon etliche Leser deiner Einladung gefolgt und haben meinen Blog besucht. Alles Gute, Verena
ReplyDeleteSo sweet to have friends reenter ones life. I love the old journals of yours. Those are always great to read again. **kisskiss** Deb
ReplyDeleteLove the journal from your teens! What a wonderful friend you have.
ReplyDeleteat some point i think the past and present reconnect with eachother, and that is what is so endearing about what you have shared here.
ReplyDeletehow lucky you are silke to still have those journals. i blew them up and wished i could read german!
and how lucky you are to have this friendship. i don't see my school friends very often, or jeannie and janice who lived across the lane from me when we were wee kids, but when i do, it is as if no time has passed. the comfort and familiarity is so natural.
i visited verena and it brought me back to the days i lived in herzogenaurach.
have a good day, silke! don't forget together strong... ♥
Hello, dear Silke,
ReplyDeleteFriendships are such a treasure, and old friends are the most precious. Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories with us.
You know, I clicked on your handwritten page. How beautiful! It reminded me that I learned to write cursive in first grade in Germany. I had to quickly teach myself printing when we moved to the US in the middle of second grade. (And it wasn't pretty!)
I still have the little chalk board we used for homework in Germany. On one side there's the German alphabet on the red wooden frame, and there are lines to help little scholars write straight. The other side has little boxes for the numbers so we would learn to do math neatly. Did they still use these when you were in school, or are my advanced years showing? Hahaha!
I hope you've had a lovely start to another creative week.
Hugs and love,
xo
Angela
Hello liebling!
ReplyDeleteDid I say that right? Bella said that to me once so I hope I remembered that right. Haha! Mother Superior. You know who wants to be Mother Superior? Renee said she was mother superior. How could that be with her flaming mouth but we let her. It was a blog-tag night among Renee, Bella, Marie and myself. We laughed so hard. Then Bella wanted to be the flying nun. I need to gather those comments together. It was a hilarious night. Oh boy. If I am Mother Superior, I will be extreme strict one day and wild the next. You will be a good mother superior. I just want to be a sister, but Mother Superior's pet favorite.
How true!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your friend's blog - I was able to translate it and thoroughly enjoyed both her and her sweet family.
That is so wonderful that you have remained friends. It must be so special. I will check out her blog right now!
ReplyDeleteHello Silke,
ReplyDeleteIch kam hier hoffend, etwas auf Deutsch zu sagen, also versuche ich. Ich liebe meine Besuche hier. Sie sind unglaublich. Danke für Ihre Freundschaft, Schwester!
y, you have to tell me if my german makes sense! Hahahaha!
ReplyDeleteAack! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh No, I can't do this.
ReplyDeleteIch mag deutschen Wein besonders Piesporter Auslese von der Region Mosel-Saar Ruwer.
Silke, those journals look so awesome and how wonderful to have kept them. They are probably more dear now than they ever were. I salute you. I too will drop by Verena's blog to say hello. Thanks for sharing precious memories. You're just like Daniel. Tee Hee!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so good to keep in touch with old friends. I love your journals from when you were young. I'm sure they mean the world to you. I'll check on your friends blog. Lorrie
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful that you are still in touch and that you still have those journals! I got back in touch with a group of my closest school friends after a gap of 25 years since our last meeting! We had a blast and keep regularly in contact now.
ReplyDeleteLiebe Sileke, schön, das du durch das bloggen zusätzlichen KOntakt zu deiner alten Freundin hast. Ich schau mir ihr Blog gleich mal an.
ReplyDeleteIch hatte auch so ein kleines Weisheitenbuch das mir meine Freundin damals geschenkt hat. Sie hat die ersten Seitrn für mich beschrieben, bemalt und beklebzt und ich hab das dann fortgesetzt.
Oh wie sich die Bücher ähneln (der kleine Prinz war selbstverständlich mit von der Partie).
Bis bald
Janine
Aaah, Silke! You still have those books! Gosh, to go back and BE that teenager again, what an absolute treat. Sounds like you had a deep and loving bond, and it's beautiful to see. Welcome, Verena!
ReplyDelete