tomorrow

Looking For Land To Rent In Germany?

John had surgery on his sinuses yesterday. A procedure called FESS. It was a gruesome surgery- drilling his nasal passage to allow the infection to drain. I have never seen him in so much pain. He threw up all night and my nursing skills are not much to be desired as I threw up with him. He is resting better today and able to keep a little food down.
His surgery was at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Ramstein, which is about a two hour drive. This is the hospital that treats the wounded soldiers from Iraq. Usually, two or three flights arrive each day, at any time. When a flight arrives, the overhead paging system announces: “All available personnel to the ER!” Everyone here knows what that means. This happened right before John's scheduled surgery.
I know that this may seem like the worst seque, but the dogs had to take a bathroom break on the drive there. We stopped for a quick walk in the woods and came across a field of broken gravestones. On first glance , it seemed they were never used-perhaps rejects? Then I remember hearing that the Germans rent their gravestones for 20 years. It is up to the church or civil authorities to grant renewal. Renewal is not often granted because space is limited. The graves are reused with the remains buried in another location. That is to say, there are remains. They know exactly how long it takes according to soil conditions for the body to decompose. This field was a dumping ground. John was not in the mood, so I didn't get to bring anything back with me.
So if you had the wild idea of visiting grave sites of deceased ancestors in Germany , it might be a grave mistake!