I'm cold as fuck, and wet. These are my primary thoughts on this, the 20th Anniversary of the Berlin wall coming down. On this day 20 years ago, I was, for the first time, a Berliner. Today, I am again a Berliner, if not a little less happy about sharing that honor with the thousands of other soggy Berliners blocking my view. Like Kennedy before me and Obama quite recently, Berlin embedded itself in my soul on that day. I had taken German since my first year in high school so I'd had a number of years to think about a divided Germany. I'd made numerous friends from "west germany" and always found it sad that they came from a divided land, a divided people, relatively innocent puppets in a world-wide game played by giant masters of distant lands. And I recall the tears as I, an African American with no German lineage of which I am aware, vicariously experienced the ecstatic joy at being one, being reunified. Of course, the actual re-unification would come some months later. But we knew, upon the crumbling of that wall, that re-unification was just around the corner. Needing to feel even closer to the German people, I recall placing a call to my friend Markus. He was one of my best friends and certainly my best German friend at the time. Speaking to him greatly enhanced this feeling of unity, of one-ness.
Just as Germany has altered tremendously since that time, so too have I. I have always known that someday I would live in Germany. I can't say, therefore, that I would not have dreamed that I would be at the Brandenburger Gate at the 20 year celebration. In fact, I would have hoped to have arrived here much sooner. However, standing in the rain with so many tourists and visitors from around the world, I was reminded of the journey that has brought me to this unified Germany. Since being here has always been a dream for me, today I take a moment to enjoy the dream of Germany. The dream of unification on their part and a kind of spiritual unification for me. For what is a dream fulfilled if not a unification of sorts. I toast Germany's 20th anniversary since the fall of the wall and simultaneously the fall of the wall that kept me from moving here. Prost to us both!!!
Just as Germany has altered tremendously since that time, so too have I. I have always known that someday I would live in Germany. I can't say, therefore, that I would not have dreamed that I would be at the Brandenburger Gate at the 20 year celebration. In fact, I would have hoped to have arrived here much sooner. However, standing in the rain with so many tourists and visitors from around the world, I was reminded of the journey that has brought me to this unified Germany. Since being here has always been a dream for me, today I take a moment to enjoy the dream of Germany. The dream of unification on their part and a kind of spiritual unification for me. For what is a dream fulfilled if not a unification of sorts. I toast Germany's 20th anniversary since the fall of the wall and simultaneously the fall of the wall that kept me from moving here. Prost to us both!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment