As a teenager, I had one of the best life's one can imagine.  I was a Junior and Senior living in Germany!  Yes, I was a brat!  Since I was still a student, I had very little responsibilities (get good grades! I did), and a whole lot of freedom!  And a decent job to take advantage of that freedom!

I had my first beer, legally, at 16.  I threw a graduation party where I served hard liquor (at 17) legally!  I could travel virtually anywhere in Europe, by boarding a Strassenbahn, or a train, and often did! I could do all this because I was a military brat living in Frankfurt Germany.  Nor was I alone!  My High school (closed over 10 years ago) was the largest in Europe (for American Brats), and one of only 2 that had dorms for the children of Diplomats in Eastern European countries (that is how I got my USSR flag!).

We were the largest because the students were not only drawn from Frankfurt, but from Hanau (the school there opened the year after I graduated) and  - Rhein Main!  We had the baddest sports teams of all American schools (we were the largest!), and in the 2 years I was there, our football team was undefeated!  Our Basketball team was not so lucky but always wound up in the top 2.

I never spent a night at home, until after 9pm, or a weekend.  I ran around with 2 groups of people.  My Explorer club (we were Mass Communications - Radio) and the guys I worked with, Tom, Mitch, Billy and I. Half of the latter group participated in the streaking craze!

It was a great 2 years, and ones I will never forget.  I have pieces of the Berlin wall (before it was torn down) and enough Mercedes stars to make a whole Mercedes!  I still have my Beer mug collection as well.  A lot of great memories!

And today, another piece of those memories faded into the pages of history!

You can never go home again.