SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
I was looking at the photograph over our bed recently, and it reminded me of when and where we purchased it.
When we arrived in Heidelberg (1980-1983 tour of duty), we stayed in temporary quarters until we could move into our “permanent” quarters. It was, essentially, a hotel, but maintained by the government. We were able to find and purchase a car relatively quickly, but Fred used it to go to and from work. That left me and the girls with riding the bus wherever we wanted to go.
That wasn’t too bad, fortunately. One day, I remember being by myself at the BX/Commissary complex, and found the “Thrift Shop.” It was a good place to look around and see if those leaving the area had put anything up for sale, that they didn’t need since they were returning to the States.
One thing I found that we really needed was a transformer.
Germany uses 220v electricity, while the U.S. uses 110v. So we needed a piece of equipment called a transformer that allowed us to use our 110v powered equipment on the 220v system without ruining our stuff. This was a good piece of equipment and the price was right, so I purchased it. Unfortunately, it was extremely HEAVY!! It weighed about 30 pounds! Definitely too heavy for me to carry on the bus! I asked if I could leave it there until my husband could pick me up with the car, and they agreed.
As I was looking around the shop more, I found a large photograph, framed, of the Heidelberg castle, and fell in love with it, immediately! Again, the price was right, so I purchased it. And, again, I asked if they could “hold” it for me until my husband could get there with the car – and they agreed.
This photo has hung over our bed ever since – no matter what house we lived it. Unfortunately, the photo has faded to a sepia tone.
Apparently the photographer did not “seal” the photo. Now that wouldn’t have been too bad, but I really liked the picture in color. We have a friend here who has the equipment to make a copy of the photo and enlarge it to the same size – in color. And he did. So we have our original photo back in color, and we are pleased.
As a footnote, our daughter, Karen, and her husband, Brian, found and gave us a miniature of the Heidelberg Gate. It is lighted from inside, and wonder of wonders – the small bulb that came with it all those years ago, is still burning – and it’s running 24/7/365!! It sits on a shelf and I can see it every single day – and enjoy that part of Heidelberg every day. Lovely!
~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
Old Things R New 
That was a beautiful post.
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