Photo of Oma Luise circa 1920
"Unconditional Love"
My Grandmothers name was Louise. She was born in 1899 in the tiny village of Burghofen, Germany, and grew up there. When she got married to my Grandpa, she moved all of 10 miles away from her little village, to the town of Sontra, where she lived to the end of her life in 1993.
Oma, the German word for Grandma, was wonderful! She was a steady and solid influence in my life, someone I could trust, and most of all, loved me unconditionally. She wasnt demonstrative at all, she wasnt a hugger, but I always knew she loved me. Never a doubt about it!
Oma raised 4 children. She lost 2 of them , my Mom and my Aunt, when they were in their 30s. My Uncle Albert lived with her, in the same house, all of his life as well. When my Mom died, my sister and I were cared for by Oma for about a year. (We were 6 and 9 years old at the time).
Omas house was located directly below the Protestant church, which was the only church in town for many years. Grandma was devout Christian. She lived right next door to her church in Burghofen as well. She was confirmed in the church of Schemmern, a small country church. I visited there recently, and have posted some pictures.
Raising 4 kids during WW2, having a husband wounded in WW1; and due to complications, die shortly after WW2, shaped her life and view of the world. She was extremely thrifty! She caught rain water for the laundry, bleached clothes by laying them on the lawn in the sun, picked berries and fruit for tea, home canned vegetables and fruit, made jellies, kept a goat for milk and a pig for meat and sausage, left the light on in only one room at a time, the one she was in, grew potatoes and wheat in a field, and was a great cook. She darned socks and sacks, had a garden with vegetables and berries, a meadow with grass/hay for the goat, she cooked potatoes in a large pot for the pig every day, in short, she was a very hard worker, a miracle worker?
My fondest memories of her are sitting in the attic, where the blossoms from the linden trees (growing in the church yard next door) were drying for later use in tea. She was darning a linen sack while I was playing. With the late afternoon sun shining through the window, leaving a warm glow of diffuse light, it was the perfect picture of peace! Another fond memory is of us picking potatoes in the field, and early in the evening wed burn the vines and roast potatoes in the potato fire. Those potatoes were the best I ever had! We took a few short trips together, one to her sisters near Goettingen, and several to her little home town. I remember Oma as being compassionate. She visited old folks in their homes and helped care for them (there werent any nursing homes in those days). Maybe that set the stage for me becoming a nurse? Grandma didn't have any hobbies. She was a firm believer in work work work!
When Oma died there was a void in my life and a hole in my heart. My uncle was my sisters and my link to Grandma, him still living in Grandmas house and caring for the house and her memory. Recently, while I was visiting in Germany, uncle died as well. It seems now that a major part of my life has come to a close, with only some pictures, and a lot of sweet memories left. My sister and I recently stayed in the house in which Grandma and uncle lived, but its not the same. We miss them both so much, and nothing will ever be quite the same again. We are, however, very grateful to have had a wonderful Oma such as Luise, one who taught us so much by being a wonderful example, and one who loved us unconditionally!
The "next" button will take you to some of the places I mentioned in my story. Most of the pictures were taken in 2003.
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Photo and Graphics by California Hiker (Renate). Do not take!
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