Susan came to live with us in January 1993. She attended Central High School as a junior, Susan came to us from what was East Berlin only three years after the wall came down.  Living through an event such as that was quite an experience for a young girl. She remembered well the day she and her father, for the first time in her live were able to walk across what was once the border separating east from west. It was something she said would live with her for the rest of her life. Susan told us that as she and her father walked on what was once forbidden ground, she was awe struck. It was amazing, she told us, of all the stores, and the things that were in them that were for sale. This was something you would never see in stores on the eastern side. The amount of merchandise, and the openness of the people was something she could not understand. It didn't take long for her to get used to it though, a new way of life, and a new openness was something she adapted to soon enough.

Her only downfall was the fact that she loved cookies and cream ice cream, so much so that she would eat it for breakfast. Susan became a member of the family as soon as she walked in the door. Within five minutes of coming into our home from the airport, Susan was looking in the refrigerator for something to eat, was never told nor did she ask, she just did it. from that day on she was a family member. Susan will always be our German Daughter, and will live in our hearts forever, missed but never forgotten.

Susan was sixteen and our daughter Jennifer was seventeen and had a drivers license, so needless to say it was a match one only dreams of. They did everything together and were never apart. They got along great together and were two perfect sisters.

October, 3, 1990 is the day of German Unification.  The whole of Germany, Berlin in particular celebrated it.  The above picture was taken on the night October 2-3, 1990, in front of the Reichstag. As you can see it was a very large celebration. The people were intrigued with the idea that a unified Germany could lead to more peace in Germany, Europe and the rest of the world. Certainly a very profound wish most people shared, as seen above.

   A Unified Germany ,the new flag and a new Country

Although the concept of Germany as a country has existed for centuries, prior to 1990. Germany was in fact a united nation-state in the modern sense for only 74 years of its entire history, from 1871 to 1945. Before 1871 it consisted of a group of diverse states, loosely connected until 1806 in the Holy Roman Empire and from 1815 to 1866 in the German Confederation.