Eric´s story

Rubens - old man

The story Eric told me accompanied me on my journey, so I want to tell you the story he kindly shared with me.
It was sunny on the day Okka, Harry and I arrived at Felixstowe. The street was steep, and at the top, we had to separate because of our destinations.
As we hugged, an old man watched us and fell over. So we went to him, washed the wound on his knee and gave him one of my plasters.
And as we sat on the street, he asked Okka and I where we were from, and he was reminded of his life story, which he started to tell us.

Eric was 19 years old in 1947 when he was working for BBC Radio in Hamburg, Germany.
The situation after the second world war was frightening. All the houses were destroyed, and people were living under the worst circumstances. For Eric this was quite impressive. But for an english soldier working for the BBC and playing music on the radio, the situation wasn´t that bad. He had the right currency, cigarettes.
During his stay, lasting 1.5 years, Eric met a girl, 2 years younger than himself, who he started dating. Eric fell in love. She was a young, innocent girl, and it might have been the first love for both of them. Their relationship was innocent, and they talked a lot and went walking hand in hand.
But after some time Eric had to go back to England, so he made up his mind about what to give her as present before he left. There wasn´t anything to buy, but he was able to swap his cigarettes for a comb and a hairbrush. And he also gave her a recording of one of the programs he had made on the radio.
In England life went on. In the beginning Eric still wrote letters to his girlfriend in Germany, but as time went by, Eric stopped writing as there was another young lady who was interested in him. He met her when he went dancing with a friend. They danced a lot, and in the early hours of the morning she accompanied him to the house where he was living with his family. After that she took the first train back home, but the next day she was back. Later Eric married this lady, and lived with her until 10 years ago when she died. They had two sons together.
But even if he was living a good life, Eric could not really forget his girlfriend in Hamburg. All of the years and even more since his wife died, he has been thinking of her. And all the time, even now, he still feels ashamed and guilty for leaving her in Germany. As he told us this part of the story, he had tears in his eyes, and said that he regretted what he had done.
As we were talking in  german, we must have somehow turned the clock back for him, and made him remember his life. More than twice he apologised for being soppy. But in my eyes his outspokenness and courage to talk about his emotions made a beautiful man out of him!
So thank you Eric for sharing your life story with us!