Sandboxes 'n Rolli

Rolli = Roland
Born in April 1948, my mom was delighted with the outcome of their celebration of my first birthday. So was my dad. This is one of the very few photos that has survived from his very early years. This was when Rolli was living in Lehrte, his birthplace.

Our parents built a sandbox for us at our home in Bremen. Rolli is sitting near it getting ready to use it. Removing his slippers was part of the routine. Mom was very strict about leaving the sand in the box.

And I loved sandboxes too. It seems they stimulate something creative in us. Memories??

Our parents felt it would be good for us to be enrolled in a kindergarten program at a nearby Catholic Church. During the week we were sent there for a day or two so Mom could work along side Dad while he was launching his language paper, The World and Press (See Raimund, June 2010). I can still remember the hot lunches served to us by nuns in their rustling, long, black and white habits. I wasn't a very happy preschooler there indoors. But I loved the freedom at their outdoor sandbox. I shovelled vigorously one afternoon and uncovered some treasure. Excited by my find, I ran to one of the supervising nuns whom I convinced to come and take a look at my discovery. Treasure should evoke some sort of delight but she became very agitated by what she saw. Grabbing me, she immediately ran towards another nun to share the news of my treasure. But this was not the reaction I had anticipated. I felt uncomfortable without understanding why. Soon the entire staff was excited and too busy to celebrate my find. Their task was to evacuate the premisses as quickly and cautiously as possible.
Later my parents had to explain to me that the sandbox had become a threat from a land mine with my discovery! Darn! My treasure was the remains of some device that could have exploded had I dug a bit deeper. Not a treasure to be celebrated.
Kindergarten ended early that day and remained closed for some time while the entire grounds were checked for further war debris.
My parents decided it was too dangerous for us to go back there and hired a local girl to come to our place instead. She lasted until they moved again a short time later. With that ended our time together in that homemade sandbox.
Rolli, my brother and my close friend, and I spent many hours together till fate changed that.

P.S. I am not a Catholic. My dad was. My mother was Lutheran. I was raised in a liberal environment and encouraged to study all to make my own choice later. Thank God.