Back to childhood

One of the few things Tom has from his childhood is a sled that belonged to him as a child in Germany. His Mother’s father, OPA, gave Tom and his cousin Dieter each a wooden sled. Not sure what happened to Dieter’s sled, but we have Tom’s.


When our kids were growing up, they often wanted to use the sled, especially when we were living in Iceland. I never let the kids play with the sled, as I knew it would be ruined. Our kids played with plastic sleds. The old wooden sled sits next to my grandfather clock. At Christmas, it’s always been part of our decorations.

Earlier this year when we were visiting Micky and Helmut in Friedberg, Tom saw a wooden sled in a shop window. He told Micky about his sled and how I never let the kids play with it, and that he always wanted another sled so it could be used in the snow. The shop was closed so we couldn’t buy it. The next time we  visited, the shop was open, but they no longer had the sled. Tom was disappointed.

Today Micky and Helmut surprised Tom. They had gotten him a wooden sled from Norway. It’s a heavy duty one meant to be used. Tom was so excited, he was like a kid. Micky and Tom were like children playing with the sled. Of course, the snow is all gone so no outside sledding was possible.

You know what this means don’t you? Now that Tom has a sled that can be used outside in the snow… it will not snow again while we are in Germany.