20 years since the Wall came down

Today is the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, marking the end of a split Germany. So break out your Scorpions and Hasselhoff CDs because it’s time for the Winds of Change to blow through.

I would like to share my story about the Berlin Wall: At the young age of about 7 or 8 I had the unique experience of passing through the wall. My father is a scientists and he was speaking to a group of East German scientists. Just 10 years before my brother had skateboarded on the West German side of the wall. He was among the first to ride a board in Europe. Although my memories are foggy, there are some details I remember clearly. The architecture was form concrete. The doors were big and made of riveted steel. At every door were armed guards, machine guns. Behind a tall desk sat an East German officer. We had trouble getting access because my mother had a Mexican passport and the East Germans had never seen one before. I don’t know exactly what the delay was but we were held up for quite some time as they tried to validate the Mexican passport. All the doors were heavy and clanged loudly when they were opened. We were finally admitted. I don’t remember much else about the trip aside from watching my father speak and the odd habit the East Germans had of pounding their fists on the table instead of clapping to show their appreciation for my father’s talk. I also remember looking across a river or aquaduct at a guard in a tower across the wall and my dad trying to explain to me why that man would shoot people trying to cross the Wall. Those were good days when the world seemed to be on the upswing, morality was evident. Today of course, our nation has been undermined by bankers, politicians and Wall Street robbers.