First period was English. Lili looked around at her classmates. Although she recognized many faces, some others were new to her. The new English teacher was a slightly pudgy brunette in her mid thirties named Mrs. Giles. She passed out the syllabus and textbook.
"I hope we'll have a productive and successful year," she said. Lili wasn't worried about English. It was the subject she'd always done best in. Algebra was what she was worried about. She knew she'd probably have to start enlisting Jakob's help in it right away.
After English came homeroom with Mr. Ford. Hope sat right next to Lili, as she always had. Second period was Spanish with Senor Ramirez. He passed out the syllabus and the textbook, and the class learned hello, goodbye, and how to count to ten in Spanish.
Lili was glad for the chance to learn a foreign language. She'd often heard her father and Uncle Paul talking together in German but had never learned much of the language herself.
At lunchtime, she quickly found Hope so the two of them could eat together.
"How's it going so far?" she asked as they dug in.
Hope grimaced. "I have math first period. I'm still half asleep and I have to worry about numbers!"
"I guess I'm lucky," said Lili. "I have English first, and then Spanish right after that."
"I thought you wanted to learn German."
"I do, but it's not offered. Bummer, huh?"
"Yeah. I'm taking chorus. You know how much I love to sing."
"So do I, but you can only take one elective your freshman year, and I wanted to learn Spanish more. Maybe I'll sign up for chorus next year."
"You know the church choir is always looking for new members."
"Yeah." Lili had grown disenchanted with Hope's church and returned to the Lutheran church her parents attended, but she didn't want to hurt her friend's feelings.
Paul and Mattias returned from West Germany on Saturday. Both families came to the airport to meet them. Paul was pushing a wheelchair in which an elderly lady sat. Lili realized she was her grandmother, although she looked older, thinner, and paler than the last photograph Lili had seen of her.
"Mama had a stroke several weeks ago," Paul explained. "She's somewhat better, but she still can't get around very well. Matthias and I decided it would be best to bring her back home with us. We were afraid of leaving her there alone."
"Welcome home, Mama." Elizabeth went to the frail elderly woman and embraced her, and then Ginny did the same.
"I'm Jakob." Jakob bent to embrace his grandmother.
"What a find young man you've grown up to be!" she told him. "Just like your father!"
"Thank you," he responded with a smile.
"These are our children, Paula, Lili, and Benny," Ginny told her mother-in-law.
Paula went to her grandmother and hugged her. Lili's turn came next. Her grandmother looked so fragile, she was afraid of crushing her. As she drew nearer, she smelled a faint floral aroma.
"Hi, Grandma," she whispered as she put one arm around the thin shoulders.
"Hello, dear," her grandmother replied. "My, you've grown up to be a big girl!"
"I'm fourteen," said Lili.
"Soon you'll be marrying and leaving home."
"I've still got four more years of school left."
Grandmother greeted Benny, then met Laura and her twins.
"Wasn't there another boy, a little bit older than you?" she asked.
"Max," said Laura. "He lives in New York City with his wife Toni and their kids Erika, Monika, and Timothy."
"Oh yes! I remember when Max was just a baby! My Max and I flew over to meet him and see him baptized into the Lutheran church. That was so many years ago!"
"It was!" Elizabeth smiled, deep in reminiscing. "I was so young then!"
"We both were," said Paul.
It was decided that Lili's grandmother would move in with Paul and Elizabeth, since they had more room. Lili felt relieved and disappointed at the same time. She knew it would have been crowded at her house with an extra person there, but at the same time, she longed to get to know her grandmother better.
On Sunday, Elizabeth cooked a huge meal and invited Matthias and his family over. There were sausages, sauerkraut, pretzels, potato salad, and apple strudel for dessert. Elizabeth had struggled to find just the right ingredients to make her mother-in-law's favorite dishes.
While they were eating, Lili's grandmother told the family stories about when she was young.
"Times were good when Max and I first married," she began. "Everybody had a job and money in the bank. On weekends, we would drive out into the country and have picnics. When Paul and Matthias were little, we would take them ice skating or to see shows."
"Please pass the mustard," someone requested.
"Then hard times came," Lili's grandmother continued. "Everything just cost so much, and the prices just kept going higher and higher. People with farms could grow their own food, of course, but for us city folks, it was a real struggle just to keep food on the table. Things got worse and worse."
"I remember those days," Paul said grimly.
"Then the Nazis came to power, and the war started. Matthias was still just a little boy, but my Paul got drafted. How I hated to see him go! Saying goodbye to him at the train station was the hardest thing I ever had to do."
Paul reached across the table and squeezed her hand.
"It was hard for me too, Mama."
"We heard he'd been captured and taken to America. Then we heard he was in a prison camp. We were so glad to receive our first letter from him! He said that he was all right and was being treated well. We saved every letter we got from him. I still have them all."
"I saved all yours to me as well," said Paul.
"We were so happy when the war was over! We looked forward to seeing our son again, but then he wrote and told us he had fallen in love and was going to stay in America. We were happy for him but disappointed that he wouldn't be coming back home."
"I'm so glad you were able to visit when Max was born," said Paul.
"And to meet your lovely wife as well," said Lili's grandmother. "We were so proud of you, of the man you had become, and that thought sustained us."
"You were always in my heart, Mama." Paul's voice was husky.
"And in mine as well," Matthias added.
"I know that, my dear boys, and even though I may never see my beloved homeland again, words can't express how happy I am to be surrounded by my children and grandchildren."
"We are all very happy to have you here with us as well," said Paul.
"Indeed we are," Matthias echoed.