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8.22.2007

Roots & Wings

I can't believe that she'll be on her way to France in only a few hours. Lauren, the little girl who decked out her Mozart bust to look like a pirate, then took a picture of it to send to me in the mail. The little girl who used to like to brush my hair, laughing as she braided it into tiny plaits held together with multi-colored paper clips. The little girl who stood as Nettl's Maid of Honor at our Holy Union ceremony, crying from happiness as our eyes met. The little girl whom I have had the joy and honor to watch grow into a lovely, cultured, and delightful young woman. Gone from us now. A year in France then off to eight years of college on the east coast.

My most tender love goes with you, Lauren. May angels guard and guide you and may you never doubt how much your Wolfi adores you.

“There are two lasting bequests we can give our children:
One is roots, the other is wings.”

(Hodding Carter)

6 comments :

  1. Roots and wings, it's so true.
    Still, it's hard seeing them fly away. I wish you all the best.

    Thank you for your kind comments re my blog. I moved to Vienna two years ago (from the States). Have you lived in Vienna before?

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  2. Ok, have read about your connection to Austria. I spent many a summerday looking at St. Wolfgang from the other side of the lake and visited there only a few weeks ago.
    ;-)

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  3. What a lovely, loving post, Steph!

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  4. You probably know Vienna better than I do (I was always afraid one day somebody would happen to find my blog and realize I am really a bloody beginner *g*). What is the appeal of "Frauenhuber"? I have been there with some "real" Viennese a couple of times and felt depressed every time (besides, the food, I mean, breaded fried pumpkin? *g*).

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  5. The history. We're Mozart historians and that was his favorite haunt toward the end of his life. He even performed a concert upstairs. Also, it was frequented by Beethoven and Schubert.

    In the spring they serve a wonderful Süsswassertraut that's breaded in Japanese bread crumbs.

    I know the 1st district best, but we'll be looking for an apartment in the 4th where it's not quite as expensive and public transportation is more available.

    May I ask why you're in Vienna?

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  6. The history of the place, oh yes, that is fascinating. Maybe I was there with the wrong company. :-)

    We moved here because we decided we wanted to return to Austria (we are both natives, I left when I was still a teenager, my husband not much later, we met und lived abroad). Vienna's the only place I wanted to live (never have before, I spent my childhood in Upper Austrian at the border to Bavaria).

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