Franklin County, Nebraska

For Another Day

We continued to spend time with this nice looking tall couple.

Pictures were taken of each other to take home. The Donovans and Peppels ate together for two nights at Pegg Leg Pete’s Oyster Bar. While eating, Elka explained German beer was darker and stronger than ours and so was their coffee. I tasted my first oyster on the half shell from her plate and it tasted better than I thought. She said they drink coffee all day and it doesn’t affect their sleep, while Nebraskans drink decaffeinated coffee for the evening meal. We talked about how American movies depict the German people as always being blond-haired and blue eyed on our long walk back to the motel after eating. Elka replied that most German people are dark headed and look very much like Americans.

They were excited to talk about the fall of the Berlin Wall. “This all took place in the night and no one was aware that it was even thought of. In a very short time after the announcement of the falling of the wall, it was all gone and now only small parts of it remain,” Elka said. There was a big celebration when this happened with lots of people going into East Germany and vice versa to visit relatives. I wonder if any one else knows this? Elka said, “ The actual wall just ran through Berlin. On both sides of the town the wall was fenced with land mines guarding the long trail. Eberhard and Elka frequently visit what used to be East Germany, telling us the economy was bad in the eastern part of that country before the fall of the wall. Now, she says the former East German economy is better than the west, because it has built all new building, where the west side has old declining real estate.

When we showed them where we lived on the map of Nebraska, they thought their friends, about 10 years ago, sent a son as a foreign exchange student to the Macon area, where he lived with a bank director. I asked around about this and get no answer. Does it ring a bell to any readers? We talked of our schools and how German teenagers had choices at about 16 as to what profession they will choose. They can learn a trade, or go on to a higher learning center, which is what her son decided to do; Both of them have very good jobs.

Eberhard is an avid American historian and is very interested in Southern history. The Peppels had just visited the Natchez Trail, and after their week was completed at Pensacola Beach they were going to spend several more weeks traveling to Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC. After that they thought they would return to their son’s home at Raleigh Durham for 10 days, finally returning to Germany on March 26. She shivered as if to say it’s still cold there in Verden. A few years ago, they had visited the Oregon Coast and thought it was lovely. I thought they knew more about our American History than I did. Eberhard was very interested in our political process and knew all the names of our leaders. I can’t say the same. Maybe I should take a more active interest in our political process.

We talked about money. Their Social Security system is more than a 100 years old. Some would like to see it change and are fighting to do so. The government wants to invest in the stock market early on, to make them secure in their retirement years, but the German people don’t want the change. Right now, there Social Security system is designed to support them. Although Eberhard and Elka were conservative in their travel, I felt they were quite comfortable at this time of their life. I have the Peppels address in Germany and I will send them a copy of these newspapers. Perhaps they would some day like to see Nebraska and the way we live here in the Great Plains. Elka thought Duane and I did not have to visit other countries, because in the United States we have every scenic experience available to us.

Strangers traveling separate roads and miles from each other’s homes, the Peppels and Donovans met and for two days shared different cultures and different times, and each couple learned from the other.

A by-chance meeting? No, I don’t thing so. Someone once said, “If someone enters your life, you see them, observe them and meet them again. It’s no coincidence, go to them, and take the time to talk to them, for this meeting was meant to be.”

People will forget what you said,
People will forget what you did,
But they will never forget
How you made them feel.
The Internet from “An Interview with God.”

Rena Donovan, For Another Day.

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