Oma

Hello All,

I just woke up. Last night I had a dream with my Oma in it. (Grandma in Austria that passed away).

I always forget dreams unless I think about them. We were going to the airport. When I saw her it was like I had seen her all the time. It wasn't like I knew she was dead and happy to see her. It was like I saw her a couple of days ago and we were going to the airport. I did get to hug and kiss her. I wasn't emotional in the dream, it was a normal thing for me. It was nice to get that image.

I still think about her a lot.Going back to Austria is just not the same without her. I lived with her for the summer in 1998 and she took good care of me. I love all of my family there in Austria because I also lived with my aunt and uncle for 6 months when I was a kid.

But the thing I loved about Oma was that she was a strong Old-fashioned Austrian woman that refused to speak English unless she was visiting the US. She did not like the changing of the Austrian Schilling to the Euro, and she did not like many of the changes in the country. Spending time with her was like experiencing a little piece of history. She was all about teaching me about Austrian culture. And when I told her I wanted to travel to neighboring European countries, she always said "No ! You need to learn about Austrian culture ! You are in Austria ! Why do you want to worry about the other countries ? I never understood that because my aunt, uncle and cousins would be taking all these trips to other countries and nothing was ever said about that. But deep down I loved her for saying that. I also loved it when she got mad behind the wheel. She would honk her horn and yell at the other drivers in Austrian German. I would always laugh.

My brother is there living with my aunt, uncle and cousins until the end of next month. I hope he is having a good time. In fact I know he is since I saw his trip to the Czech Republic, his snow boarding trip, trip to Vienna.

Anyway, gotta go and get ready for the day. Ciao !