I was so blessed to grow up as a military child.  I was able to travel to places that only others had heard of.  My favorite place to live was Germany. 

My father did two tours in Germany.  Augsburg before the Berlin wall came down.  This was a time of contention and division in the country.  There was always a large military presence, both American and German around.  I was there for 3 years while in elementary school. We lived on the American military base. I learned a lot of the German language as well as German history.

The second tour was during my middle school years. By now the Berlin Wall had come down and the country was a much different place to be.   This time we lived in the little town of Altenstadt.  Made up of 98% German citizens our family was deeply submerged in the German culture.  I thrived here.  My memories of roaming through the countryside and interacting with the German people are very dear to my heart.  When it was our time to move it broke my heart.  This was the hardest move that I had to make while growing up.  It was my dream to bring my future family here later in life.  That dream came true the summer of 2018

~Shai

The street Shai grew up on