Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I’m normally better at giving a heads up when I take time off, but we lost our Uncle Dieter on the 21st, and that was an unexpected sadness. He was over 80 and had Covid, it’s true, but he was such a very young-seeming person, and he wasn’t in the hospital or anything. He seems to have gotten dizzy and fallen, hitting his head. My mother-in-law went over to check on him, and, well.

Dieter was born in Germany in 1939 and emigrated in his late teens. He married my mother-in-law’s sister a bit later in life, and while they were unable to have children, they were happy together. My husband served his mission in Germany AND was able to fly out to help and support Dieter when his house burned down in the San Diego fires of 2002, and I felt closer to him than possibly any of my other uncles (by marriage or otherwise). He was a lovely man who did difficult crossword puzzles in his second language and enjoyed travelling; he was also a voracious reader, making the choosing of books to give him for Christmas and his birthday a pleasure. We loved him.

Knowing Dieter, however, he’d want to hear about the books I’ve finished and have yet to review; since the end of the year is approaching fast and I’d prefer not to start out behind, I’m going to do a series of reviews in his honor. In the meantime, he and Sharlene have been separated for over 20 years, so I imagine their reunion was a beautiful thing.

Auf Wiedersehen, Dieter. We’ll miss you!