A Look Back

We've been up to our eyeballs in things to do the past few weeks, and things are changing fast. I'll have a few more updates for you (hopefully) soon, but for now I thought it would be nice to reminisce a bit about my late father-in-law and share some photos which have turned up since his passing nearly two months ago.


Here is a photo taken in the days leading up to our wedding. This is my favourite picture of the three of us, mainly because this was typical Tata: always ready for a warm embrace and a huge smile. My family stayed with my soon-to-be-inlaws for the wedding, and my brother Luke wrote me recently that what he will remember about Tata is that he always seemed to be the happiest guy on earth. I have to think that it was more than just the fact that his last daughter was finally getting married off.









My father-in-law had 14 children, and by the time he passed away, 62 grand-children and several great-grandchildren. There must be a lot of joy that comes with having so much progeny, but a fair amount of sorrow as well. Not long after his oldest grandchild died of complications from leukemia, his oldest son was killed in a car accident in Romania, leaving behind a wife and several young children. He was named Cornel after his father, and the two of them had a close relationship. Elena said that Tata was absolutely devastated, and was never quite the same afterward. I imagine that spending time with the children from his son Cornel was a comfort to him. They are now grown up, and have begun to have children of their own. This is a photo taken this past fall of Tata playing with his oldest great-grandchild, the grandson of his son Cornel.

This is the last picture of my father-in-law, taken two weeks before his passing. I don't think there could be a more fitting final portrait of him: at home with his beloved wife of more than fifty years, a grandchild in his lap and a dear long-time family friend who came to visit.




                                                                                                                                              

The Big Freeze

 One of the things Elena and I were looking forward to was a nice, mild southern German winter. We thought we had escaped the terrible Canadian winter, but it seems that it has followed us.
If you've followed the news recently, you're already aware that Europe is experiencing temperatures far below the norm, often accompanied by huge dumpings of snow. Unfortunately, Germany has also been affected. Balingen winter temperatures usually hover just above the freezing mark, which means that when it does snow, it doesn't stay on the ground long. The mercury has stayed well below the freezing mark for the last while though, even dipping down to -22 C (-8 F). As I write this, it is -15 C (5 F) outside. Having grown up in Canada, I can deal with it of course... it all feels so disappointingly familiar. I'm pretty sure I can hear my family and friends in Canada laughing.
I must admit though, that all this snow along with the prolonged freezing temperatures in this beautiful part of Germany makes for a scenic drive. The photo above is the view from the road as I leave work in Gosheim at 4:30. My commute meanders through towns tucked into the valleys, such as Wehingen:

If you look above the car in the foreground, you can see a little white sign on the side of the building. That is the bakery I stop at every morning on my way to work. They open at 6 AM with a huge selection of fresh-baked goods, and give me good reason to look forward to my morning break and lunch. Definitely worth getting out of a warm car for.