The carefree days of Switzerland
I wish I had a good camera through all my trips to Switzerland. I would have had volumes of pictures to cherish and share. Instead, I only have a few from my last trip to Geneva a few years ago, and another few from a prior trip to Basel, neither of which captures the Switzerland I know and cherish as well as they should. So much to remember, so much to tell about my many trips to that beautiful, peaceful place. So much of who I am, I discovered there.
As I sit here reminiscing about the carefree days of Switzerland, my mind goes back to my bubbly Helga, my loving Paul, my sweet Stefan, and peaceful Schinznach Bad. God how I miss them all, friends my parents, sisters and I were blessed to have crossed path with an ancient time ago, and who became dearer than family.
I picture the Cedar of Lebanon Paul had brought back from one of his early travels there. The transplanted sapling grew in size and majesty in the little Swiss garden on Rütelistrasse, the depth of its roots reflecting the depth of the ties our two families had forged. It felt at peace, at home. And why wouldn't it? After all, it had come to Switzerland from nowhere other than the Switzerland of the Middle East, as Lebanon was once called, and it was deeply cherished.
As I sit and reminisce, I hear the sweet voice of my Stefan softly humming to me, as he so often lovingly did: "Lieber Gott, lass die Sonne wieder scheinen, für Mama, für Papa und für mich!"
Some things we never forget. And thank God for that.
LIEBER GOTT, LASS DIE SONNE WIEDER SCHEINEN*
Lieber Gott, lass die Sonne wieder scheinen,
für Mama, für Papa und für mich!
Alle Leute, die großen und die kleinen,
haben Sehnsucht nach Sonne wie ich.
Wenn die Wolken, die grauen, weiter weinen,
ja dann weine bald auch ich.
Darum lass doch die Sonne wieder scheinen,
für Mama, für Papa und für mich!
Häschen auf der Wiese, Vöglein auf dem Baum,
schauen in den Regen, träumen einen Traum.
Träumen daß die Sonne lacht vom Himmelszelt
und mit ihren Strahlen glücklich macht die Welt.
Lieber Gott, lass die Sonne wieder scheinen,
für Mama, für Papa und für mich!
Wenn die Wolken, die grauen, weiter weinen,
ja dann weine bald auch ich.
Darum lass doch die Sonne wieder scheinen,
für Mama, für Papa und für mich!
*Translation of the 1955 Austrian-German song (singer, Cornelia Froboess; music by Hans Carste; and lyrics by Hans Fritz Beckmann):
DEAR GOD, LET THE SUN SHINE AGAIN.
Dear God, let the sun shine again, for mom, for dad and for me!
All people, the big and the small, have longing for the sun like me.
If the gray clouds continue to cry, yes then soon I will cry too. Therefore, let the sun shine again, for mom, for dad and for me!
Bunny on the meadow, birds on the tree, look at the rain and dream a dream, a dream that the sun shines from the heavens
and with its rays happy makes the world.
Dear God, let the sun shine again, for mom, for dad and for me! If the gray clouds continue to cry, yes then soon I will cry too.
Therefore, let the sun shine again, for mom, for dad and for me!
