It is Thanksgiving and I like to think of all the things I
am thankful for in my life. One of them
is having awesome memories. The one
below is of one of my travels in Germany and it involves the Kick in the Pants
Mom. Thanks Mom for showing me that life
is fun and to live for the moment!
My sister posted a picture today that reminded me of a place
we visited while I was stationed in Germany.
We visited a lot of places in Germany, but this one held a lot of
memories, especially the one I am about to tell. My tales of Germany pop into my head a
lot. It was my favorite duty station In
the Army. I have decided to start
writing about all of these tales before I forget them. Well, enough chitter chatter, on to the
story.
I had the opportunity to visit Neuschwanstein Castle while I
was in Germany. You know the one; it
looks like the one at Disney. I went a
couple of times. Once with the person I
was married to (a story for another time) and once with my Mom, you know, the
Kick in the Pants!
In 1990, Mom came to visit me while I was stationed in
Germany. She brought two stowaways in
the form of my sister, Peachie, and her best friend Pat, may she rest in
peace. We traveled all over (more
stories to follow later). One of the
places I took them was Neuschwanstein Castle.
If you have ever seen pictures of the castle, and I am not
talking the Disney pictures, you would know that it sits on top of a hill. This is the website for the castle which will
provide the historical background: http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/index.htm. Well, we chose to walk up the hill to the castle. Even though we were in decent shape, it was
quite a hike. Remember it was over 20
years ago. While we were up there we
took the tour of the castle.
The tour was amazing.
It took you through all parts of the castle to include the grotto. The tour guide was a German lady, go
figure. She was pretty stern and told us
at the beginning of the tour no video and no flash photography. Well, being the goody two shoes that I am, I
did not follow the rules. I had this
HUGE VHS video camera. It was one of the first VHS models so it was huge. Needless to say, I unplugged the monitor so
you couldn’t see it videotaping and I videotaped the whole tour. I had to rush to turn it off a couple time,
hehe. Mom walked way ahead. I guess I would have been out of luck if I
got caught and I really didn’t want to mess with the German lady. She looked like a real brute.
Well, we got done with the tour without getting caught,
whew! It was time to head down the
hill. My sister and I got ahead of Mom
and Pat. As they were coming down the
switchback trail, I decided to video a bit more. I focused the camera on them and Peachie and
I said, “Here they come, The Women, The Myths, the Legends….” Before we could
finish what we were saying, Mom and Pat flipped us off! We couldn’t believe it; our Mom gave us the
Bird, the One Finger Salute!!!!! My
sister and I burst out laughing and couldn’t stop!
Pat passed away this past April. This story was told at her eulogy. We wanted everyone to know how much fun she
was and still is. This story still makes
me laugh. This was one of the many funny
memories of this trip with many more to follow.
Just wait until Italy!! Now you
can see why I think my Mom is a kick in the pants. Pat may be gone, but the memories of hers and
Moms antics lives on in our hearts and minds.
Thank you for letting me share this with you. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Mary aka Mama Bear
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