As soon as she saw Matthias, Ginny knew something was wrong. She started to stand.

"Papa's gone." His voice was dull, lifeless. She went to him and put her arms around him, and he clung to her for awhile.

"Mama just told me," he continued, when he could speak again. "He passed of a heart attack in his sleep. She said he didn't suffer at all. I'll have to get together with Paul about flying to West Berlin for the funeral."

"I don't think I can go with you," said Ginny. "The kids start school Monday."

"I know. I wouldn't expect you to. Please don't worry. We'll be OK."

He went to the telephone to call his brother, while Ginny went to the girls' bedroom to tell them the news. She knocked on the door, then cracked it open.

"Girls? Listen. Your grandfather in West Germany has died. Your father and Uncle Paul are going home for the funeral. I'll let you know as soon as I find out what the arrangements are."

"Oh no, Mom!" said Paula.

Lili didn't know what to think. She'd never met her German grandparents, although she'd seen many pictures of them and always received presents from them on her birthday and at Christmas.

When she joined her family at the dinner table, she saw her father's eyes were red-rimmed and knew he'd been crying.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she said.

"Thanks, sweetheart," he replied in a weak voice.

"Do you know when the funeral will be yet?" asked Paula.

"Day after tomorrow at ten in the morning. Your Uncle Paul and I are leaving for the airport at seven in the morning. We lose six hours flying over."

"Can I go with you?" asked Benny.

"No," his mother told him. "You start school on Monday."

"Aw!" he whined.

The next morning, the family got up early to go to the airport to see Matthias off. They met up with Paul, Elizabeth, and Jakob at the airport. Amon was away at college, taking art classes.

"What classes are you taking this year?" Jakob asked Paula. They were both going into their junior year.

"Sociology, psychology, creative writing, and typing," said Paula. "The typing class was Mom's idea. What are you taking?"

"Anatomy and Physiology, third year French, newspaper, and current history." He smirked. "The current history was Dad's idea."

"Well, it's good to know what's going on in the world," said Paula.

"Yeah, I guess so. So you're taking psychology, huh? That sounds interesting. What are you taking, Lili?"

"The required courses, and Spanish," said Lili.

"That's right. You only get one election in your freshman year. I took French."

Soon it was time to say goodbye to Paul and Matthias, and the families returned home.

Ginny was clearing away the dinner dishes that evening when she received a telephone call from her husband.

"Is everything all right?" she asked.

"We got here OK." Matthias yawned. "Mama is as well as can be expected. I can't talk for long. I just wanted to let you know we got here all right."

"Thank you so much . What time is it now over there?"

"Just after midnight. Mama's about to drop. We need to get her home."

"Give her my love."

"Will do. Are the kids OK?"

"They're fine. Watching TV in the living room right now."

"Kiss them goodnight for me. I love you, Gin."

"I love you, too."

Monday morning, Lili got up early with Paula for the first day of high school. Benny was going into middle school and got to sleep in a couple of hours later.

Arriving at the high school, Lili saw it was larger than the middle school she'd attended the previous year. Clumps of students stood around talking. Hope saw her and came over.

"Hi! How are you?"

"I guess I'm OK," Lili replied. "My grandfather died last Friday."

"Oh, no! I'm so sorry!"

"It's all right," said Lili. "I didn't really know him. He lived in West Germany. My Dad and Uncle Paul are over there right now, taking care of things."

"So when will they get back?"

"I'm not sure."

The bell rang then, so they went to their first period class.