Sweet Sixty

This Saturday my Dad will turn 60! He is such a wonderful father. He was born 1950 in Wasserburg although his family is from Munich. But his grandparents had to move there after their appartement was destroyed by a bomb in World War II. His father came there by foot from France where he was fighting as a soldier. He didn't want to be caught by the French (he preferred the Americans which had taken control over Wasserburg), so he ran away from France, always in the night, so that nobody saw him. My Dad is the only child of my grandparents. When he was a little boy he got tuberculosis, but he was tough enough to make it. His parents always worked a lot so he was very often with his grandparents or a nanny. His mother was sick a lot since he was a boy. He went through so much with her. He was holding my grandfather while he had a heart attack and died.

He was kind of a wild teenager. When my Mum met him he had very, very long hair and wore strange clothes. My Mum tamed him. They got married January 23rd 1975. Still, after 35 years, my Dad brings my Mum flowers and candy and never forgets an anniversary or Valentine's Day.

My Dad does anything for me. After my job situation became bad he collected adresses where I could send applications to. He wrote letters to politicians in which he complained about my situation.

I love it when he hugs me in this very special way: very long, strong and gentle at the same time.

He is a reserved person who doesn't like to be in the center of attention. He hates to lose in games, just like me, sometimes he even tosses his dice off the table.

He is a hard worker and I admire him for getting up every morning at 5 o'clock and coming home around 7.

One of the things I love so much about him is how much he loves animals. One day we found out that we had a mouse living on our porch under a flower pot. The next day my Mum and I found a piece of cheese on the porch. We asked my Dad about it and he said: That's for the mouse! When other people would put that cheese in a trap he gave it to the mouse just to eat. He always takes care of the birds and homeless cats. He loves our cat Ronja and our dog Jimmy. And they love him so much! Jimmy completely forgets about Jordan and me when we are visiting and he sees my Dad. He follows him everywhere. One of the most important things is that my Dad loves Jordan. He always buys him his favourite drinks and wants that he is doing good. And he gives him his special, long, strong and gentle hugs...