Although I was born in Upper Silesia, which was once in Germany and is now in Poland, and learned German as my first language, I know English pretty well, probably because I have lived in the United States for about fifty-five years.
I married young, had three adorable children--once my mother was notably hostile when my oldest, Kathy, had backed a pickup into the wall of their garage and I did not get excited. I distinctly remember her words: "You think your children cannot do anything wrong." I guess I do, although they can do lots of dangerous things, like Mike, jumping out of an airplane and Pat, landing his small plane on a glacier. Now they are older and tamer, but who knows what our six grandchildren will do, two for each child. My offspring's father, Bill, died a few years ago at the young age of sixty-five, but our marriage had broken up long before that. Luckily, children and grandchildren love my present husband, Richard, with whom I have lived for twenty years. He teaches Ancient Greek at the University of Oklahoma, but that is another story.
After my dependents had gotten older, I finished my college degree and went on to graduate school, which resulted in a PH.D. in German with a minor in Spanish. I did not have my certificate from the University of Washington for a long time, because I owed a huge bill for overdue library books. Eventually, one of my colleagues at the University of Oklahoma talked me into paying up and retrieving the certificate. I don't know where it is at the moment--I retired from OU in 2005 after having worked there since 1981, been department chair for seven years, and teaching lots of German.
Now I live hectically in Norman, OK with Richard, two dogs and two house cats, three outdoor cats, occasional raccoons and possums, and bunches of birds. Our food bill is enormous.
And I have stopped doing academic research and turned back to my first love, writing fiction, although "Dachshunds Can Fly" is not fiction but a travelogue.
I hope to sell enough of it to help pay our veterinarian bill.
