The rainbow never sets

"Of course. It will take both of you at the same time, because you are still small boys. You can also harness it to that cart and drive with it in the park."

We had a lovely time with our donkey. Franz Kempa was Opa's driver, coachman and valet. His eldest son, Franek, or Irene, had to be with us though, for as Vater said: "With a donkey you never know."

One day we were all sitting in the cart, with Irene, Franek and Stefan, his brother, going around the oval drive way. Suddenly the donkey must have thought he had enough, it was time for him to get to his stable for his meal, for he first trotted, than galloped as fast as he could. Irene jumped off the cart, so did Stefan. Franek was trying desperately to pull in the reigns, but the donkey was stubborn. He didn't stop. He raced through the gate of the Park, then through the gate of the yard, jolting us three as the small iron-clad wheels were jumping from one cobble stone to the next, heading straight towards the stable door. I screamed and yelled and hid behind Günter under the front seat, for I was scared. Suddenly the cart stopped. I looked up and could see that Franz had grabbed the donkey just before it reached the door. Phew, that was a narrow escape. From then on we made sure that we closed the park gate whenever we rode the donkey or drove in the cart with him.

Another Christmas we received a threshing machine and a steam engine Ñ both made by our carpenter. There were lots of wheels that would turn, and a leather belt that connected the steam engine to the thresher. We played hours with it, slowly preparing ourselves mentally to become farmers, when we would grow up.

Both of us also had a tricycle. Most of the time we rode them outside, only when the weather was bad, were we allowed to ride them on the brick floor of the kitchen. One day I was turning a corner too sharply and came off the bike, hitting my head on the screw of the bell, which had lost its top. I bled profusely. It was not so easy then to get two or three stitches and for everything to be forgotten there. The doctor was far away and so this accident left a scar above my right eye, which is still visible. I was fortunate, though, that I did not lose my eye.

I remember from early days, that Mutter would gather us around her and read to us some story from the Bible, or some other religious book with pictures. We were encouraged to ask questions, but we were not allowed to be 'silly' or misbehave. This was to be a special time and we noticed that Mutter behaved differently. She held her arms around us and we cuddled to her, feeling warm and sheltered. Mutter's concern was that we should learn the stories in the Bible so that we could come to a strong faith in later life, the same as hers. Whether we learnt something from her or not, these times with her meant a lot to me, and it always made me feel good inside. She would also see to it that we regularly said our prayers at night, before going to sleep, and before lunch and supper it was Mutter who would say the grace, before she had taught us to say it.

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