I remember the bad old days in Berlin, Germany. The city had been divided into separate zones after the war, and Check Point Charlie gates were not to be taken lightly.
Although my family and I had visited Germany many times, and my husband had studied both in Freiburg and Bonn, I'd been through the Wall once from West Berlin to the east.
November 9, 1989. My young son, Brian, ran down the stairs into our London kitchen yelling, "The wall's fallen! The wall's fallen!" I knew exactly what he'd meant and ran to the TV.
The very next day, we were watching our kids playing a soccer game in Regent's Park with our friends, Ed and Michele. We decided on the spot we needed to go to Berlin and be part of what was happening. We bought plane tickets and left next day.
The wall area was chaos--but basically good chaos. Certainly, young guards (some seemingly as young as eighteen) walked three abreast in front of the wall. They called out in English, "Do not defame the property of the GDR" (German Democratic Republic). The only response to them was more and more flowers being placed into their guns' barrels.
Everyone, including the four of us, chipped away at the wall. We were having no success, when a large German man smiled and said in English, "Let me help." He went to where rebar was placed in the concrete--wham, wham, wham--pieces flew off like magic.
Speaking of magic, the whole surreal experience was just that. People from the world over came together to celebrate. A victory of justice. A victory of humanity. A victory of good triumphing over evil. Bravo democracy!
Although my family and I had visited Germany many times, and my husband had studied both in Freiburg and Bonn, I'd been through the Wall once from West Berlin to the east.
November 9, 1989. My young son, Brian, ran down the stairs into our London kitchen yelling, "The wall's fallen! The wall's fallen!" I knew exactly what he'd meant and ran to the TV.The very next day, we were watching our kids playing a soccer game in Regent's Park with our friends, Ed and Michele. We decided on the spot we needed to go to Berlin and be part of what was happening. We bought plane tickets and left next day.
The wall area was chaos--but basically good chaos. Certainly, young guards (some seemingly as young as eighteen) walked three abreast in front of the wall. They called out in English, "Do not defame the property of the GDR" (German Democratic Republic). The only response to them was more and more flowers being placed into their guns' barrels.Everyone, including the four of us, chipped away at the wall. We were having no success, when a large German man smiled and said in English, "Let me help." He went to where rebar was placed in the concrete--wham, wham, wham--pieces flew off like magic.
Speaking of magic, the whole surreal experience was just that. People from the world over came together to celebrate. A victory of justice. A victory of humanity. A victory of good triumphing over evil. Bravo democracy!
