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There are some letters which had words attached to them from the beginning, no matter how I would have felt while writing this post I knew I have to write about Grandparents. I was blessed to know all of my 4 grandparents, I even knew two grand-grand-mothers and one grand-grand-granfather. I thought that I would share with you some of my most vivid memories of these amazing people who were and still are part of my life.

Bunica (= grandmother in Romanian), Mimi. She is the mother of my mother and was and is a beautiful woman. I have one of her pictures when she was 18, she was so delicate but strong, so at peace with herself. She was born before the second world war, survived many hardships and still is one of the most optimistic woman I know. She did not lose her passion for life, she finds each day something worth smiling. My earliest memory of her ... Mimi reading to me bed time stories. Grimm Brothers, 1001 nights, simply great stories which filled my imagination, made me dream and put me to sleep. She had a great voice, calm, melodic, following the story with the perfect intonation. I am actually sure that I love books due to her. Books are part of my life since before I could read or write. They were always there and I cheerish them so. Mimi lives with my mom in Romania, is 84 this year and she will be travelling to see us in one month. I cannot wait, so many places to visit :)

Omi (= German version of grandmother) is the mother of my dad, living in Germany, Augsburg. The best seemstress in town a couple of years ago while she still lived in Romania. She was the costume designer of the local theatre and of course I was the best dressed grandchild in town :) She was so creative, never tired of new ideas, of finding new colours to match my complexion. Sadly she cannot do that anymore, old age got her hands, but still I can admire her work. My mom still has some suits made by Omi.

Otta (= German version of grandfather), the father of my mother. The most patient grandfather in the world. I think I drove him nuts with my questions, especially WHY?? We had a routine, on each Sunday morning (to give my mom some space), Otta took me for a ride in town, we went on a bus drive around the city and he showed me old building, told me stories of his youth. He never got tired of answering me questions. And somehow he always managed to answer them. One question I remember pretty well: how is butter made? Why of milk? Where does milk come? and so on and so forth. I miss him a lot. Unfortunately he died 10 years ago but he always will be in my heart. In a way I will never forgive me for not saying good bye. He died while I was on a business trip and I was not there. Miss you Otta! Miss your blue eyes looking towards me!

Buni (= Romanian version of grandfather), the father of my father. The kindest man ever, he loved me so much. I had the luck of having him in my life only for 8 years, but I can still remember his smile. He was in charge of me for the first 2 years of my life since my mom and dad were studying when I was born, so during their remaining study years he took care of me. He was the only one left, everyone else in the family was still working, so he learned how to change diapers, how to feed me, how to calm me down. Bless his heart! Sadly I was not allowed to go to his funeral and say good bye, by then my parents divorced and the second wife of my dad was pretty weird. I visit his grave as often as I am in Romania, I need to 'see' him. Miss him!

I know I am lucky ... I still have 2 wonderful persons in my life. I have / had so much love coming from their side. But still I miss Otta and Buni ... I hope they keep smiling!

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