aunt rachel

This is my Aunt Rachel, my Mom {commonly referred to as Oma} and Zach. They are visiting us in Germany. And they did many times, each trip more fun than the next. We went to Paris together, visited my Aunt and cousins in Munich. Just lots of good times. 

She recently passed away. As did her husband, my Uncle John. When we were younger my brother and I would call him Candy John. They always had a crystal candy dish on their side table waiting for us to choose a piece. Their daughter, Kathy, would babysit us sometimes.

My parents were friends, first, with John and Rachel before my brother was even born. My Mom went into labor while playing cards with them one evening. And then it became so much more. Friends for so long that I can only ever remember calling them Aunt Rachel and Uncle John. Friends for so long that Oma was as close to Reechel as she was to her own sister.

You see, my Mom {she's German} always called her Reechel, not Rachel. And Aunt Rachel {from Tellico Plains, TN originally - only 35 minutes away from where I live now} who lived in San Diego for the majority of her life, always called Mom JoAnn, not Johanna. Cute, right?

My Dad was in the Air Force and was in Vietnam and Uncle John was a Navy man, not deployed at the time. They watched over my Mom and us while Dad was away.

I miss them and have lots of stories in my head. I don't usually post anything more than a photo for Sunday Photo, but I hope  you see why I did.

And here's what I'll be using to help me get my stories onto paper so that everyone will know how I felt about those two very special people in my life. It's the newest eBook from Ella Publishing, How to Scrapbook Your Personal Heritage. It's on sale now and I highly recommend the up-to-date take on scrapping your own heritage photos.

So, that's why I shared some words. Although a picture paints a thousand words, unless you get them down on paper, no one will know what your words are.