I was born in Johannesburg on the 29th
September 1964. My parents had emigrated from Germany in 1963 and started
their lives here. Two years later I got two for the price of one in
siblings. Yes Mom gave birth to a little boy AND a little girl. Uta and
Hagen were born on the 26th December 1966. I don't really remember much from
those years except that we had our fights, but in general we were a very
close family and had a good childhood. Dad worked a lot of long hours, but
that meant that we got to go to Germany every December to see our Grannies
and the rest of our family. We really enjoyed those trips. As we got older
my brother and I struggled through high school but in the end we passed our
final exams and that was all that mattered. My sister flew through school
and never had to worry about studying.
After school we all did our own thing for a
year or two and in the end we all joined Dad in the family business. Mom and
dad split up, because they just couldn't live together anymore. But that was
fine because even today still we are a family only that we all live our own
lives. Christmas and Birthdays and any other occasions are spent together,
Mom and Dad get on much better that way..........
Anyway and so life went on, we all worked
together (even Mom for a while) and there were no major problem. Hagen met
Lana and they had a little boy whom they named Karl in 1989. He is the love
of my life. As his parents were still young and wanted to enjoy their lives,
so that meant that I basically brought him up as my own. All the things he
needed to learn in life I thought him. Uta met Manni and after a few years
together they got married in 1990.
Sadly Hagen took his own life on the on the
9th of July 1997 and we are still not sure why he did it. Mom and Dad took
this the worst because I think they blame themselves and always thing "what
did we do wrong"
And so life went on. I met Jon on 1996 and we
got married on the 5th December 1998. Finally Uta decided she was
going to start her family and left Dad's business. In 2000 Sebastian was
born. He is a sweet sensitive little boy. 18 months later he was blessed
with a little sister called Maia. Uta is now a glorified "housewife" and her
2 kids keep her busy.
I lasted at dad's a few more years and then
in 2001 I finally decided to give the "outside" world a try. I was petrified
to look for another Job, but I did it. I never regretted it. Dad and I had
our differences which meant not talking him to over a year. Deep inside I
hated it but I was always the one to say "sorry". But this time I wasn't
going to do that. And so the months went on and all of a sudden Dad got ill
and I had to put my pride in my pocket and forgive and forget. Needless to
say we now live in his house and he moved into the Cottage.
I must admit that I was very skeptical at
first, but wow he was giving us his house, we could sell ours and keep the
profits. We then settled all our debt, did some renovations at the new house
and I bought myself a new car. Today we are very happy here. Dad and I go
shopping on a Saturday morning and during the week we eat together. So in
the end everything has turned out fine.
That is my life in a nutshell