Friends since we were 1 year old!

I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't know Julie (Von Bargen) Kruse. Our moms pushed us in our strollers together when we were only a year old. We'd play in the wading pool and on the swing set together and in the sandbox which her cats would try to use as a litter box. We had a club with membership cards for her, her brother David, and me. No one else could be in the club. Not that there was anyone else around to be in the club, but that didn't matter to us! We then went to grade school and high school together. Junior high choir and band, carpools, and high school marching band kept us close through the years. We lost touch in college, but Juj didn't forget the good times we'd had and asked me to stand up with her when she married Ron Kruse.

I honestly didn't believe her in January. She, Melissa (Kanning) Moore, and I got together for a mini reunion of the grade school girls. Julie said that she'd like to come visit me in Germany. She had never been to Europe and decided that this was the time. She convinced her husband to join her and here they are. They spent a handful of days in London and then flew to Hamburg on Thursday.

We had a wonderful time touring and hanging out. This picture is the hanging out part! Turns out that Julie's German roots come from Hamburg. They have both been wonderful cultural adaptors. They've tasted new foods and have tried to learn German words. It brings joy to my soul to be walking down the street next to Julie and hear Ron behind us repeating "Ich möchte..." or "Entshudigung" so that he can remember how to say "I want..." or "Excuse me".

This morning I put them on a train to Berlin. They will spend 2 days there. On Tuesday, Ken and I will hop on a train to Berlin and then the three of us will go down to Munich for Oktoberfest and to Garmisch in the Bavarian Alps. We'll be taking the computer, so if we have net access, we'll post some pictures.