The following was written by my sister-in-law Gaby Hub in Germany and she asked me to translate it into English and post for her.

"When the sun of life sets, the stars of remembrance start shining"

I remember when my parents and I made a trip to the USA in the 80s and visited Pat's parents in Michigan on that occasion.  Even though it was summer, Jo would not be stopped to prepare a beautiful turkey dinner in the style of her famous Thanksgiving dinners.  It was a memorable feast and we fully enjoyed this celebration in the famous American tradition.  Yet, my mom was a bit disappointed.  The reason was that Jo had served us only the best and leanest pieces of the meat.  The crispy skin of the turkey was left in the kitchen.   My mom would have loved to nibble on that as well.

I also remember Jo's visit with my parents in Germany.  Jo had actually learned some German in preparation, but our mom spoke no word of English.  Nevertheless, with lots of phantasy, hands and legs, and in particular good will, the two old ladies kept up good communication and understood each other very well.

Mom sowed all my clothes right through high school.  Mom packed all our lunches. Mom did all the ironing. In high school, after I had taken driver's education, mom let me drive around the block even though I didn't have my license yet.  She knew I needed the practical experience before taking the driver's test. 

She baked a lot (chocolade chip cookies, brownies, cakes).  She always cooked the dinner and she mostly washed the dishes because we didn't. 

She only wore high heels (not very high) once or twice a year when she and dad went out to something important to him.

Mom and dad took it upon themselves to visit us in the various far away places where we lived.  They drove the car across the country to California and endured the hardships of camping.  She joined Peter and me on a vacation trip to France where, together with Peter's mom, she enjoyed being driven thru the country and endured the hardships of the French cuisine (almost raw meat).  For her the highlight of the trip was the visit to Lourdes.  

They visited us several times in Wiesbaden and Duesseldorf in Germany and in England.  In addition, together with Diane and Pat, she drove in Peter's rickety old VW beetle from Freiburg thru Austria to Czechoslovakia at the time when that country was still communist and quite forbidding.  Without blinking an eye she summed up her rudimentary Slovakian language skills and asked for directions until we finally made it to a small village where her local family members lived. She amazingly managed to keep up a communication with them while her daughters just sat there awestruck at a side and capabilities of their mom which they had never suspected to exist.  As a reward for the hardship of live in socialism they continued their trip to Venice in Italy and viewed that special place.  This was probably the most adventurous trip of her life and as always she managed in style and without getting excited.

Several trips to Germany and Slovakia followed by the challenges and experiences of the first one were unsurpassed.