Yesterday, totally out of the blue, an email arrived written in German which you won't be able to read since it was us who lost the war, so I'll translate it for you:
"Hello Peter, maybe you remember me from our time with 'Fahrenden Gesellen'. I was searching the net to see if they still exist, and came upon your blog with some old photos. Regards, Armin"
Yours truly on the left
Of course, I remembered Armin, and to this day I am a card-carrying and fee-paying member of the 'Fahrenden Gesellen', a German version of the scouts but without the funny handshake and the constant 'dyb-dyb' (do your best) and 'we'll dob dob dob' (do our best). We just did the traditional stiff-armed salute (only kidding! ☺).
When moments later his Skype-call came in, I quickly donned my old scout-shirt which I hadn't worn for fifty-five years, to make sure he would still recognise me. We had a good old chinwag for several hours and the memories just kept coming back from another life when we were still young and full of energy --- and full of ourselves.
We're the sum total of all the things we've done in our lives, and the years with the 'Fahrenden Gesellen' imbued me with much of what I am today. Indeed, their coat-of-arms still adorns my house today.
"Es lebe der Bund!"
P.S. Days later, Armin sent me these photos:
