Article Contributed on: 2/14/2007 11:58:42 PM
I was a young second lieutenant in the Army stationed in Dachau. Everybody was talking about the Oktoberfest and the great parade that started the festival, so I took off that Sunday andwent down to Munich early. As the time approached I was pushed a little further back by the crowd.
Just before the parade started these three girls walked by. One of them told the other two "I'll meet you here". That was the only English I heard in all the activity. She walked a few paces further and said something to the fellow on the curb and he let her stand in front of him. A little frustarting for me.
As the parade passed us by I was taking pictures. The Oktoberfest Parade is nothing like a parade in America. There are beer wagons for each brewery (Lowenbrau, Spatenbrau, etc.), vendors selling pretzels that cover your chest, people marching with hugh bells, tossing flags, and others cracking whips sounding like music. You never want it to end. And in all of these there is this cute little thing just a few paces away.
Then a float comes by from "Florida". She runs out and talks to them and then comes over to me and tells me they are from Florida. I let her know I didn't think so, but she was probably right.
Finally the parade was over and folks start milling away. She comes over to tell me that there were many students at the local branch of the University of Maryland who couldn't get to the parade and asked if I would be wiiling to show them my pictures. I asked for her contact information and she gave me her dorm phone number. Later in the week another friend asked me to get a date and go with him and his girl to the Oktoberfest. I called the cute young thing and she agreed.
I went to the dorm and asked for her. They called her down. I wasn't too sure what she looked like. She rushed in and signed out. She also was not sure what I looked like, so she asked the girl at the desk which one I was. The girl let her know that I was right behind her. That was our start to what has been a wonderful life together.
Now after41 years,four grown kids with seven grandchildren, we are still in a romantic state. We have never let the Parade pass us by. In all these forty-one years I have never told her she was probably right about the float from Florida. I think it would be a great opportunity to let her know on a night out curtesy of YourHub.com.