We are now on first name basis, he invited me and the girls round for coffee and cake tomorrow and I know his life's story, almost all 82 years of it!!
And all of that because I dialled the wrong number.
He is such a sweet man and I think I will call him more often.
Oh isn't it wonderful! The things that happen when you let them.
I have always been fascinated by history! And to hear it first hand is always amazing.
Oscar, that is his name, grew up on a Farm in the Sudetenland (now part of the Czech Republic). During the war his family was forced to leave their lands and came to Germany. On their way here his father was killed, trying to defend some of the few belongings they had been able to take. So Oscar, his mother and 3 younger siblings arrived in Kempten with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They were housed with local farmers, the five of them in one room. They had to help on the farm to earn their keep which of course they did, having had their own farm, and being used to this kind of work. Oscar is a trained cobbler and soon word got around that he made excellent shoes. Back then, he didn't have machines so he made most of it by hand and with the few tools he could get holf of. As it became more and more known, the farmers started to bring him leather and assisted in finding machines for him. He became an institution and to the day, people still bring their shoes, when a heel has fallen off or when they are to tight.
He managed to work enough to support his family and eventually they were able to move into their own apartment. He worked hard all his life and later bought an apartment house. He lives in one of the flats and rents out the others to people who are in difficult situations.
Such a nice, caring old man.
To think, if I had just hung up...
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