Well, I didn't nor did I grow any upper-body protuberances or do any of the other things my parents had expected me to do.
My years of discontent began in 1960 when I refused to be confirmed by the Lutheran Church - as had been expected - and instead joined the Deutscher Freidenkerbund (German Freethinkers League).
And the discontent continued when I refused to stay - as had been expected - for the rest of my life with the firm I had been articled to or to serve - as had been expected - in the Bundeswehr for the obligatory eighteen months' military service.
Instead of dutifully working towards a retirement with the predictable gold watch, I 'escaped' - as had not been expected - to Australia where I stopped biting my fingernails and started making a new and better life for myself.
The end of yet another year is a good time to look back and reflect on the many things I should be grateful for.
