This month my mom celebrated her 99th birthday. My father is 101 and they have just celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary (the traditional adjective is “wedding of the crown jewels” or “heavenly wedding”)! They survived 2 world wars and had 9 children. Two of them, twins, were born just after World War II and went back to heaven right after birth. My parents, deeply religious Catholics, have never really dealt with artificial birth control. They now have 19 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.
They are definitely getting old and weak, but everyone who knows them is amazed at how they still manage to live in their own house, even if with the help of a lady for the last 2 years. Also, my brothers and sisters buy for them, mow the lawn, etc. They all know that they love God. They have a beautiful statue of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in the niche of the front of their house (photo). My father, a doctor, has Moses’s staff with a wrapped snake on the front door. From the back of the house, they had a colorful mosaic depicting on the wall next to the porch, depicting the first miracle of Jesus, the transformation of water into a wine (photo below).
My parents live in one of the best wine areas around the Rhine, so until recently they drank wine every night. As long as my grandfather was still alive, they went to the winemakers to buy and taste wines with their friends. Everyone got a small glass of wine and had to guess what area and year the wine comes from, what type of grapes it is from, etc., just as many details as possible without seeing the label.
When my father retired at the age of 70, he began to study history. He said he had to do something to engage his brain. Since he was collecting coins with the popes and had a complete collection of stamps from the Vatican, he decided to study the history of the popes. In order to keep his physique, he worked in the garden every day and still does it. He says, ‘If it weren’t for my garden, I would have been dead a long time ago.’
My mom goes for walks every day to get some exercise, lately with a walker, and she reads books every day. Once an acquaintance of our family asked her: ‘With such a big family, there are still a lot of worries. How are you managing?’ My mom replied: ‘I have a cabinet with drawers at home and I call one of them ‘the drawer of tolerance’. As soon as a problem arises, I put it in the drawer and don’t worry anymore.” Then her acquaintance said: ‘But after a while the drawer is full, isn’t it? What will you do next?’ She replied: ‘It always shakes somehow. And so I have a new place for more problems!’
I admire my mother. She had a lot of work to do with 7 kids and all the craziness some of us were doing, but I don’t remember when we were little and fierce that 5 noisy boys were the only ones shouting at us once. We inherited leather pants from our older brothers, from the oldest to the youngest. We didn’t waste food and we thanked God for it! I remember before we started cutting new bread, my mom made three crosses on it with a knife and only then did it cut.
My parents believed in Jesus all their lives and I am sure that he was the one who helped them survive both wars, all hardships and difficulties. My father always expressed gratitude for his faith in God. He said: It is only his grace!
A few years ago I asked them if they had the opportunity to change something in their lives. Both immediately replied, ‘Nothing.’ To which my father added: ‘We have 7 children who get along well. What more could we ask for?!’
He also says that a lot of people don’t want to have children these days, but when they get old, they regret it. On the other hand, as a former gynecologist who had to get up many times at night to give birth, he says that every woman deep in her heart wants to have children. My parents love children, and when we adopted our Congolese baby girl, they were one of the first to accept the idea and fully support.
They still like each other very much. Their last wish in life is that when one of them leaves, the other can soon follow him. Isn’t God’s love wonderful? Admirable, after 75 years of marriage! My mother’s gold wedding ring is so worn after all these years that it is thin as a paper in places.
When one of their sons decided to become a missionary, it was not easy for them. After a certain time, however, they were happy about it and supported me. I’m sure their prayers have helped me in many difficult situations. They also like to help financially. My father is convinced that the money is ‘dirty’. Back in the days of the German Marky, he said: ‘When your time comes, you can’t take a single scribbled mark with you!’ When he goes to the other side himself, he doesn’t want people to spend a lot of money on funeral wreaths and flowers. ‘Why too?’ he says, ‘we’ll be in heaven! We won’t need those flowers.’ Years ago he said: ‘I have my suitcase packed, I’m ready to leave.’
People admire how they smile and how happy they are. My father likes to tell jokes, one after the other, even if he told you before. After all, it comes from a city that is famous for its humor!
I recently noticed how difficult it is for him to wear a coat, so I tried to help him with it, but he said, ‘No, thank you, I have to do it myself.’ When I mentioned that it was not easy for him, he replied: ‘I have no choice. I have to get into it somehow.’ It encourages me to try to fight until the end. I wish we all had the perspective of heaven here in our earthly lives!
-Wolfgang Schmidt
