I was lucky enough to live in Eastern Europe for a few years right after the Berlin Wall fell. It was a heady time, full of hope and possibility but also full of fear, apprehension, and bewilderment. My deep personal connection with that era in history was reawakened this week with all the tributes and celebrations of the twenty-year anniversary of the wall's demise. Some of the writing I've been doing for NaNoWriMo has also been from that part of my past so the combined dredging has made a lot of memories resurface. Aside from the fact that TWENTY YEARS have somehow passed while I was doing my nails or something, it's been exciting to remember that time. I am extremely grateful that I was able to experience both reunification and the immediate post-communist Europe up-close and personally because the lessons that I learned then continue to shape everything about my world and political views. It's doubtful that I'll ever experience anything quite like it again (and, all nostalgia aside, I sincerely hope I never do because social upheaval on that level is not something to be wished for).
I especially liked this Op-Ed piece in the NYT. More for the idea than the actual pieces because poetry is the medium I like the best for memorials. I wish they could have had more poets, especially from the region, participate. I have my own poem on the subject here, if you like that kind of thing.
I lived in Germany when the wall fell, and we were on vacation in London on that night. I cannot believe that it was 20 years ago.
Posted by: Frugal.Homemaker.Plus | November 10, 2009 at 01:33 PM
I know! Linear time is so inaccurate. 20 years? But it was only just the other day.
Posted by: LetterB | November 10, 2009 at 10:37 PM