Friday Fact

Something about me that you probably don't know:

I was in Germany in November 1989 when the Berlin Wall crumbled.

My grandmother is German, and we were there visiting her family. Until a few years ago, she would visit every two or three years. She'd leave in September, just in time for her hometown's Wine Festival, and she'd return just before Thanksgiving. I had saved and saved for a year to be able to afford the trip. Plus I had to get permission for a leave from my college so that I could keep my scholarship. It was so incredibly, absolutely worth it.

We had visited the East German/West German border only a few weeks before that November event, and I will never forget how intimidating it was to be in that place with the cleared ground, barbed wire, and armed guards in the tower. When the Fall came just a few weeks later, I had a better understanding of the relief that the East Germans felt.